Our Great Southern Land (Australia) Poem by Helen Crutchett

Summer paints a picture
With broad and heavy strokes
And captures all the beauty of our
Great Southern Land.

Crimson red, for Waratahs
Burnt umber for the earth
Pristine white for mountain tops
And frosty snow fields spread below.

Pink and grey Galahs, add colour
A kookaburra's laughter can be heard
Among gum trees tall
Laughing at passerby's surprise.

Vast blue skies mixed with
Ocean green until they become
Waves of foaming white
Where whales and dolphins play.

Yellow wheat fields ripen
Under a scorching orange haze
Cool forests of green ferns
Offer shelter from the sun's burning rays.

The dry creek beds and desert plains
A vista of ochre and sienna paint the vast outback
The sacred place for Aboriginals, since time began
The rightful owners of our Great Southern Land
A Country where many call home.


Helen Crutchett