Ambush Poem by Frank Halliwell

There's a lovely tropic island at the bottom of the map,
It's a paradise on earth except for one small handicap;
We have wallabies and kangaroos to only name a few,
And a gentler crowd is seldom found in any city's zoo.

But there's danger lurking everywhere throughout these tropic isles..
The forests here are full of snakes, the rivers; crocodiles!
There are miles of golden beaches where the crowds don't hesitate,
But just beyond the breakers, swift and hungry shadows wait!

In the land of Oz, downunder, lives a creature greatly feared
Both in quiet rural country and the city he's appeared.
His appearance is deceiving, and he sometimes looks quite strange..
And his colour varies widely right across his tropic range.

You may see him lurk half-hidden near a path or watercourse
Where he waits with endless patience and attacks without remorse!
He may strike your leg from ambush on some dark and moonless night.
And in terror you will recoil, and you may just die of fright!

So you'll rush off to the doctor, sure that it will do no good,
But he'll find no deadly venom, just a bit of splintered wood.
'I think that you'll survive', he says, 'although the leg may ache,
For you have just been bitten by the dreaded Bentstick Snake! '