UNDER THE CROSS
There's a place I like to wander
when she's goin' 'not quite right,'
and I'm feelin' meaner than a rat
at my weary outback plight.
When the dirt has been like granite,
and the water's brown, or green;
and the despairin' in me ol' Mum's eyes
is the worst I've ever seen.
When the sleepin' gets away at night
'cause I owe the Bank a quid;
or some trav'ler passed the fear around
when some 'dingo took a kid'.
When the wet has turned the world to mud
or the bed floats out the door,
'cause the river has come calling
at the homesteads of the poor.
When the flies are thicker than the hair
on the meanest, brownest dog,
and the 'roos are wreckin' fences,
and there aint a taste of grog.
When I just can't seem to take a trick
or I just give up the ghost;
there's a place that gives me comfort,
it's the place I love the most.
I just head for the top paddock,
fifty miles down the track,
where no other man is breathin';
only me, and the outback.
Underneath the Southern Cross you'll find:
A hill with one gum tree,
that's the place I like to wander;
just Australia; and me.
Reg Kear
Australia (1996)
