Daly River

ABPA Financial members can post their Bush Poetry here ...
All Forum Visitors can view but only Financial ABPA Members can post and reply.
Post Reply
Dennis N O'Brien

Daly River

Post by Dennis N O'Brien » Tue May 01, 2012 8:29 pm

Daly River

By those northern river banks;
There in days gone by I wandered,
By clear streaming waters pondered,
Youthful hours were never squandered
By those sandy verdant flanks.
Saw the rain in torrents falling,
Heard the native dogs there calling,
Saw from sea the rain clouds squalling
By the Daly river banks.

Born upon a distant range,
All the streams that feed the Daly,
Flowing slow or tumbling gaily,
Come the rains it rises daily,
In a flash the seasons change.
Down the stony gullies creeping,
From the fissured hillside seeping,
Rolling clouds their tears are weeping
Over all the monsoon’s range.

Sheeting over flats and plains,
By the creeks clear waters flowing,
To the raging river going,
As the land the heavens sowing,
Ever heavy fall the rains.
Then at last the gloom is breaking,
Sun asleep in cloud is waking,
Mud upon the flood plains baking,
So at length the wet it wanes.

In its middle reaches flows
Beautiful and clear and gleaming,
By treed sandy banks it’s streaming,
With life in its waters teeming,
So it ever onward goes.
Over rocky bar it crashes,
Past the jutting sandbar dashes,
Dancing light in flowing flashes,
Cool but molten - bright it glows.

As the season turns to dry
Slowly flows the Daly river,
Piercing snags in currents quiver,
Sunken trees whose branches shiver
Where at rest their bodies lie.
There a crocodile is sliding,
Close by muddy bank is hiding
As the river calmly gliding,
Soft the passing waters sigh.

Soon the river widens more;
There a rolling wave is crashing,
White with foam and spray there splashing,
Sodden banks the torrent lashing,
Upstream runs the tidal bore.
Waters clear and muddy blending,
Eddies, swirls, and whirlpools rending,
Still the winding river wending
To the distant ocean shore.

Now the waters grey and wide,
As her heavy heart is flagging,
Wearily her burden dragging,
In her race to broad sea lagging,
Battling the surging tide.
But there spreads the great wide water,
Now no force on earth will thwart her,
Spreads her gift to every quarter
As the fresh and sea collide.

© Dennis N. O'Brien, 2011, 2012

Heather

Re: Daly River

Post by Heather » Wed May 02, 2012 3:37 pm

Nicely done Dennis. I like the rhyming scheme too.

Heather :)

Neville Briggs
Posts: 6946
Joined: Sun Oct 31, 2010 12:08 pm
Location: Here

Re: Daly River

Post by Neville Briggs » Wed May 02, 2012 4:39 pm

Goodonya Dennis.

I know why Marty likes it, he's got a book on Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. :lol:
Just teasing. ;) :oops:
Neville
" Prose is description, poetry is presence " Les Murray.

Dennis N O'Brien

Re: Daly River

Post by Dennis N O'Brien » Wed May 02, 2012 8:05 pm

Thanks Marty and Heather & Neville and very observant of you Neville. ;)

User avatar
Maureen K Clifford
Posts: 8047
Joined: Tue Nov 09, 2010 10:31 am
Location: Ipswich - Paul Pisasale country and home of the Ipswich Poetry Feast
Contact:

Re: Daly River

Post by Maureen K Clifford » Sat Oct 26, 2013 9:18 pm

I missed this first time around and it is a very different rhyming scheme that works really well - the wheel just turns and turns as Neville pointed out. Nicely done
Check out The Scribbly Bark Poets blog site here -
http://scribblybarkpoetry.blogspot.com.au/


I may not always succeed in making a difference, but I will go to my grave knowing I at least tried.

Post Reply