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.
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