Tallebudgera Poem by Herbert Nehrlich

The town was called
Tallebudgera, it's true
that those dilapidated shacks
housed only Black Fellows.

They'd taken over when
the mine did fold, and people,
without a livelihood just left.
And now, the streets were,
truly, littered with the stubbies,
empty Four X, the labels fading.

The guys in suits came out,
and had a look, then promptly
unceremoniously declared
that Blacks ough to be locked
into the dungeons of Mount Isa.

So, it was done, and that small town
reverted back to what it never was,
a town of ghosts of times long gone.
The year that followed saw group
of white men with their squaws
and squealing kids and a few dogs.

They settled in and paid no rent,
nor rates. The local shop revived
and cashed the welfare cheques,
too soon the streets were littered,
once again, with empty stubbies.