Brumby Lagoon………...(Far Away) Poem by Geoffrey Fafard

There is a dead mare up the end of this lagoon
Lying beneath a Melaleuca.
She has had a hard few months I am told.
To myself I say
I wish I could have been there
To shoot her quickly.
As we wait for the full moon
At the other end I miss a little Barramundi
On a gold popper
I smile at it's golden reflective shiver
Bats circle as dark comes settling in
A nearby Pelican grunts and chats in his funny way
A bigger fish splashes over near the reedy grass

The last of the cattle and horses walk out, instinctively
Away from the darkening water onto the plain

We sit under The Coolabah tree no longer shading us
Two brolgas watch us - statues in the dusk

Magpie Geese honk and squabble, settling in
And many little red eyes from countless little freshiwater crocodiles
Stare back into the beam from my torch

Couldn't see one in the daylight
Wallabies also now full of cool water hop off into the night

I check where we sit for Brown Snakes - none
We are alone and yet not
Now Madam Moon comes lumbering, rising in the east

A fat and golden glowing thing over on the horizon
There is a wisp of cloud across her face.