An Ode to Two Pioneers

This poem was written with respect for two pioneers of the North at the request of their daughter Anna.  I sincerely hope this clip passes inspection.

          An ODE to TWO PIONEERS-Pat &Peg Underwood

In the centre of a northern station racetrack, east of the Nicholson Plain,

The old boss and his wife have come back to their home once again.

In the shade of the Bohemia’s they now spend there time at ease,

As tales of the past are told by the leaves, that whisper in the breeze.

Although now at rest they watch the running of what was once their home,

And hear again the galloping horses, their sides flecked with foam.

See Mark Richards at the racetrack putting the horses through their paces,

Kingdom Come, Laura Doll and Lawless, ready for the Halls Creek races.

Bush Law might take the double again with the Cup and Bracelet prize,

There will be celebrations at the station camp beneath the northern skies.

The ghosts of these great horses and more are out working on the track,

Putting in that extra effort because they know their boss is back.

They can hear the crack of a stockwhip, the sound of a rattling hobble,

The yackies and the cooee’s of the natives as they begin to squabble.

Hear again old Lee Graham cursing and yelling at the milking cow,

Ringers laughing in the yards, as they wipe the sweat from their brow.

The creak of saddle leather and the jingle of a Condamine bell,

All the station sights and sounds that Pat and Peg know so well.

Calves are bellowing for their mother, an eagle soars in the sky,

Dust rises from a stockman’s trousers as he tiredly slaps his thigh.

The branding iron’s glowing red set to burn the Inverway mark on a hide,

Unmarked clean-skin cattle were anybody’s until the brand was applied.

Brood mares with tails in the air gallop past closely followed by their foals,

With the setting sun there is the smell of rib bones cooking on the coals.

When this country needed pioneers Pat and Peg raised their hand,

In nineteen fifty-six Inverway country came under Pat’s command.

While he was away mustering and droving, maintaining order on the run,

Peg made a home and raised a family beneath the Territory’s blazing sun.

From droving with pack horses onto road trains, this couple saw it all,

When it came to Brahman cattle Inverway quickly answered the call.

Another who led the way rests beside them, Farquharson is his name,

Along with the Underwood’s, this wild northern land he helped tame.

Inverway will see both good times and bad; wet seasons come and go,

The old boss and his wife have returned, to watch the daily show.

Both are now at peace, overseeing things from ‘neath the Bohemia tree,

They are back home where they belong…… their spirits are flying free.

© Corin Linch 22/4/10