From Laughter, Tears and Coffee – Helene Jermolajew – Balboapress.com
Farewell to Outback’s open spaces
Of coolabah, mulga and broom,
Farewell to dusty red-earth traces,
My leaving came too soon.
They say there’s not a lot to see,
They say there’s nothing there,
I’ll now dispute when they say to me
‘You’ll get bored, the place is bare’,
For I’ve seen life at variance
To what you see in towns,
I’ll let you know the difference
Of places of renown,
I’ve seen opal mining,
Dugouts underground,
Had a go at an excavator
That didn’t make a sound,
I’ve been to Cameron Corner
Straddled three Aussie States,
Travelled roads that bumped and shook,
I’ve opened station gates,
Paddy melon bowling
On roadside, bulldust red,
Emus, ‘roos, goats and sheep
With rains were then well fed.
We caught a shingleback to feel
Its dinosaur-rough skin
And climbed the rocks at Tibooburra
To prove where I had been,
We drank and ate at every pub
That we found on our way,
We talked and laughed and swore a bit
With folks we met each day,
I cruised upon the Darling,
I crossed the great Paroo,
I walked upon the little bridge
Across the Warrego,
So out in Lawson country
I saw things as they are,
Remote and dry and hardened,
The land quite often bare,
So every city person
Who thinks they have it tough
Should go out to the Outback
To learn what’s really rough,
To see how men and women
Work with flood and drought,
Manoeuvre roads of dust and rock,
Yet still they have no doubt
That where they really love to be
Is Outback, on the land,
Where those who know this hardened life
Will lend a helping hand.
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