Not Mine but Worth Repeating

Lest we forget their pain.

Undrought - a poem by Casey Williams

The year has barely started,

The ringers still on leave,

The wet is running late this year,

Lord, bring us our reprieve.

The north is bloody thirsty

The cows are calving down

The grass is getting sparser

And the ground is turning brown

It’s been this way a while now

Too long, in fact, for some

The dry is taking over

When will the rain please come?

At last the clouds are building

And the frogs are crying out

I wonder if they know at all,

What’s due to come about?

A couple inches, you bloody beaut!

What a blessed sight,

The sound of raindrops on the roof,

I’ll listen up all night.

Another night, and then again,

She’s getting fairly damp,

The river’s running beautifully,

she’s really set up camp.

Again and again, it hammers down,

In drowning, vicious waves,

We hate to sound ungrateful

But rain, please go away.

At last the drought is broken

But so are all our hearts

Homes are under water

Lives are ripped apart

No warning of the enormity

No chance to get ahead

Just paralysed by water

And what we will find dead

The land has gone from Barron

To an ocean, vast and brown

The calves are drowned or frozen

Their mothers, bogging down.

The rain has finished finally

The world turned upside down

There’s cattle stuck in trees

Dead wildlife on the ground

The north just copped a big one

We’re hurting far and wide

Our community’s a strong one

But we need you on our side

Don’t kick us while we’re down

Don’t say we have no shame

You want to see compassion

Drive up here, see our pain

I for one, could not be prouder

Of the industry up here

It’s one of strength and courage,

Through drought, through flood and fear

I say this to all affected

To those who’ve lost so much

You’re the backbone of this country

Keep talking, stay in touch

You’ve got your mates behind you

To help with all your doubts

We can rebuild together

The sunshine has come out.