Outback Outlook

This sunburnt land

Has seen better days

The Big Wet would come

Every single summer

Flooding golden plains

Roads were cut

We'd be flooded in

Preparation began

When Spring began

Fully stocked pantries

Power lines come down

Generators go into gear

Just enough power

If we get it right

Cool air conditioning

In longer floods

Stocks running low

Meds running out

No need to panic

Helicopter is coming

Now the Wet is gone

Long hot summer

Decadent electric storms

Without the rain

Paddocks are dying

We get a sprinkle

5ml in the gauge

A few precious moments

Feeling the joy of rain

Splinter of hope

Everyone talking weather

Talking and hoping

The telling signs of rain

Are just myths

Sad realisations dawning

Mother cows fade

Into a skeletal frame

Calves drinking them dry

Still they drink

Mothers are weakening

Cows begin to die

Paddocks are bare

Dust fills the air

I cannot breathe

My heart is breaking

Orphaned calves

Fending for themselves

Desperately hungry

Are trampled and broken

Fighting for food

We put out lick

We put out cottonseed

Costs are rising and rising

Where is the line?

Seeking balance

There is no balance

Cruel, long drought

Oh Mother Nature

Forgive us our sins

Save us please

My heart is aching

But loving this land

I gather my strength

I won't give up

We are needed