The pride of Australia surges my veins
when I see the Outback awash after rains;
when droughts have been broken, the future is bright;
suspended life flourishes, seeking the light.
When I see the desert alive and in bloom –
bright tapestries woven on Nature’s rich loom –
I’m proud to be part of this picturesque land
with high mountain ranges and white coastal sand.
The great inland rivers which flood and retreat,
the salt lakes which shimmer false hope and deceit;
stark pillars of limestone alluringly weird,
wild places the natives esteemed and revered.
I thrill as I tramp through deep gorges which hide
rare ferns in moist crevices where sunbeams glide;
where underground springs blithely bubble and squirt
their crystal clear waters in musical spurt.
The rugged escarpments and ironstone reefs –
a country cocooned in strange myths and beliefs;
the echoes of rumbling volcanoes I heed
to herald the legends which Dreamtime decreed.
The pride of Australia surges my veins
pulsating a chorus of earnest refrains:
this land ‘neath the cross of the great Southern skies
to symbols of beauty and strength testifies.
© Vivienne Ledlie