Outback Gifts of Mother’s Moods

Australian Outback…
Once the great brown land stretched to horizons,
and within its harsh breath life existed:
some basked in the scorching sun for life,
others burrow beneath and waited til night,
to forage and hunt for food
and somehow elude those predators
that in life were apex.
Once a year in contrast, the rains do fall
and quench the dry lands,
forming rivers of torrid flow,
and transforming what all did know as desert;
so as the rivers snake across the brown earth,
momentary green aside their girth,
life alighted from all kind, to imbibe the gift.
Then when summer takes hold,
fire threatens every life and burrow,
as bush and every growing thing so dry
like tinder to the fire’s eye, did sweep the land
and cull so much life in a catastrophe,
and left a black smoking desolate place, that will renew.
And so in ebb and flow,
outback life continues,
and harsh it is but what life is not,
and the rise and fall of seasons mark their time,
in this sublime brown land of Australia,
under endless skies in beauty’s eye, eternal land.
Tony DeLorger © 2017
- Brutal Night - March 30, 2021
- Like a Breeze Recalls - March 27, 2021
- Torrents - September 5, 2020







The Outback has always fascinated me. I love this verse, Tony. It has vivid imagery and nicely phrased.
Thanks Phyllis, glad you enjoyed it. take care.
Love this Tony , You are so lucky to know that land so well , makes me think of the magic of our deserts here too !Great write!
Much appreciated Ed, glad you enjoyed it my friend. Cheers!