Sunday, January 27, 2013

Australian Outback

The continent as crucible,
in raw and tattered form,
from scattered edge of ocean;
the outback vast is  born.
The mist of time does mirror,
this curved and skirted land,
where songline chimes eternal;
draws magic from life's hand.
In soil, straw and rock it breathes,
of red-dust timeless truth,
where scale of man is minimal;
and ancient gods still rule.





raw, chimes, scattered,edge, mist, mirror, tattered, skirted, straw, curved, vast, scale

http://sundaywhirl.wordpress.com/

16 comments:

  1. Lovely poem, moving and thought provoking.

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  2. This is gorgeous - great wordling.

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  3. It's great to enjoy where you live which is sounds like you do in your poem!

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    1. The outback has mythic qualities for Australians whether they live there or not; whether they have been there or not. The 'great Australian retirement adventure' is to do just that - drive around the continent.

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  4. I love that we both love the scrubby desert. I have only seen Australia's coasts, but we wanted to cross the continent by train. Ran out of time. 'this curved and skirted land' -- I like the use of skirted in this line. It allowed me a couple of different ways of looking at the land.

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    1. I am sure there is a soul connection with one's own land but I have been in the desert in India and in many parts of Africa and I love it all. But the Australian outback, and it is not necessarily desert, but uninhabited and immense, is just quite unique. I wonder if it is the fact that it is some of the oldest land on earth - it has a silence and grace to it and you really feel that you can feel the land breathe and sense its consciousness. Perhaps it is only in such isolated and vast places that we can 'hear' the earth more easily; feel her pulse. And perhaps on such an old continent where mountains have been rubbed soft and low, there is more peace and acceptance.

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  5. Wow. Exquisite writing! Had the words not been stronger in font, I'd not have picked them out.

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  6. Brava! Thank you for sharing your connection with us. The rhyme is beautiful and natural. Well done.

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  7. I remember watching a show where a famous host was allowed to take part in a scared woman's ritual. Even just watching and being and observer pulled at heart strings to visit this wondrous vista of land.

    I've two pieces. My shorter verse is here:
    http://julesgemsandstuff.blogspot.com/2013/01/sunday-whirl-93-wordle-elfje-trio.html

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    1. I would be very surprised if any 'host' or non-member of the tribe was allowed to take part in any sacred Aboriginal ritual. No doubt they came up with some sort of ceremony where it was allowed but it would not have been sacred. Not even other Aborigines of the wrong 'skin' or tribe can participate in a sacred ritual, male or female, so there was probably more spin than reality in it Jules - such is the way of the media anyway.

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  8. I have never been to Australia, but I think the descriptions are befitting from what I have read. Very lovely piece, Roslyn.

    Pamela

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  9. In the outback you certainly feel this as you do on the wild untamed coastline. But we must be vigilant nothing is sacred in this sacred land. This time we must beat back the invaders.

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    1. Except the days of colonisation are gone. We just have to get Israel on the path of democracy and sort out Tibet, West Papua, Chechnya and a few others. The only 'invaders' will be and are economic and that is more to be managed than beaten back.

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