We have many very clever writers in our Year 10 Extension class who have been inspired to write poems about the natural beauty of Australia.
Please enjoy this piece written by the talented Annabelle O’Keeffe as a reverie to Australia.
Australia
By Annabelle O’Keeffe
Green. A tumbling, creeping mass of green.
Jade ribbons weave through emerald leaves,
a flourishing tangle of life
cascades down her shoulders,
resting gently around her face.
Once a jolly swagman…
Tan. Golden brown, her face and body
tenderly stained
from a lifetime spent thriving
beneath the radiant sun.
camped by a billabong…
Smooth, like a river pebble.
Engulfed by the perpetual motion
of the gurgling stream, the water softly singing
as it dances across her skin.
She sits, eyes closed,
in the river.
…under the shade of the coolabah tree…
Golden. Sunlight seeps its way
through the swaying trees overhead,
gently radiating
beams of warmth onto her face.
And she sang as she watched…
Orange. Like the magnificent sun
rising over barren ochre plains,
like a flower gently turning its head
to face the morning light.
And waited for her billy boil…
Like a magpie slowly shattering
its dark prison
and rushing forth into the world,
she smiles.
Who’ll come- a waltzing Matilda with me?
Yellow. Rippling heads of wheat
dance in unison
to the rhythm of the wind
over the hills.
Waltzing matilda…
Incandescent sparks fly from gleaming coals and up
into transcendent ghost gums,
throwing strange and beautiful shadows
into the night.
Waltzing Matilda.
Kookaburras sing in taunting tunes,
serenading the harmonious symphony
of frogs and crickets that echo through the trees.
She smiles.
Who’ll come a waltzing…
She laughs
and it is the sound of turquoise waves
vigorously tumbling and
rushing onto shore.
Matilda with me?
It is the sky
bellowing
as the lightning tears the night apart,
And she sang as she watched…
the magnificent torrent of rain
that cascades onto the earth
with such force that even the mighty red gums
strain in protest against the strenuous downpour.
And waited for her billy boil…
She is fierce. She is tender. She is unforgiving. She is majestic. She is cruel. She is magnificent.
She’ll come-a waltzing Matilda with me.
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