Saturday, January 15, 2011

The Australian

The Australian

They came in droves to help the state

They came with bread and milk to wait

Until the water receeded back

So their hands with work they could crack

From mud and silt and rising tide

Queenslanders came from far and wide

They toiled and slaved and wiped their brow

Leaned on a broom and wondered how

All this could happen to the people around

Oh well, they said, we'll rebuild this town!

One man grabbed everything he had

And gave it away, not even sad

At the loss, the pain or even the houses

Nobody complained, they just hugged their spouses

So glad you're alive, they said out loud

It was what wasn't said that made us proud

With many hands they did the work

This was a job they would not shirk

For they were tall and they were strong

And they were Australian, all along

Among the backs of women and men

Came the relief in groups of a hundred and ten

Nobody cried for they knew not how

They just toiled and soiled and worked the plough

Deep in the mud as far as they could go

Wasn't a question, wasn't for show

They rebuilt this town from the bottom to the top

Until it was done, they did not stop

For when we hurt and when we're blue

We know we're Aussie, through and through.

-Elizabeth Costello

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