Land of Precious Metal
© Tom McILveen
Winner, 2024 FAW Lambing Flat Cherry Festival Writing Awards, Young, NSW.
In the outback there’s a spirit, and although you may not hear it,
you can feel it when the western sky’s aglow.
It is there in all its glory, like some unforgotten story
from The Dreamtime, fifty thousand years ago.
It was Albert Namatjira, who had brought the outback nearer
to the hearts and souls of those who could not see.
In a swirl of red and ochre, from his brush and leaden stroker,
he had opened eyes and set the spirit free.
All the colours were amazing, with the western sunlight blazing
through the painted skies of indigo and gold.
In the shades of mauve magenta, you could see the burning centre
of a land whose history remains untold.
It began before The Dreaming, when the western skies were teeming
with a billion stars that shone like beacon lights.
As the ancient moon ascended, it had finally surrendered
to the everlasting darkness of the nights.
From beyond the eerie starkness of the everlasting darkness,
came a star that shone much brighter than the rest.
It had started synchronising with the planets that were rising
from the eastern rim to settle in the west.
Though The Rainbow Serpent feared it, the primeval gods revered it,
and proclaimed it as The Goddess Of The Sun.
As the earth and sky were warming, there were streams and rivers forming
in the outback where The Dreaming had begun.
In pursuit of outback spirit, came the men who did not fear it -
who were not of Koori blood nor Koori creed.
Bearing expedition orders, they had come from southern borders,
to explore the land and sow the southern seed.
As The Colony expanded, State officials had commanded
they extract the ores proclaimed by southern scribes.
They had laid the first foundations, and had seen the last migrations
of the Kalkadoon and Mitakoodi tribes.
On their ochre painted faces there had been remaining traces
of the sacred Dreamtime lingering within.
They were ancient River People, unprepared for store or steeple,
and they had no need of copper, gold or tin.
As the earth revealed its treasure, there was little time for leisure
in the villages that sprung from southern toil.
For the ore had needed rating, and the copper separating
from the open pits of broken rock and soil.
Many more would come to settle in the land of precious metal,
where their sheep and cattle thrived and multiplied –
for the grasses here were greener and the waterholes were cleaner
than the billabongs beyond The Great Divide.
They were European people and prepared for store and steeple,
and had forged their world from copper, gold and tin.
They had sought the outback spirit, and because they didn’t fear it...
they would find it in that sacred place – within.
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