Country Wasted

[Glen Hughes]

40 - Country Wasted

A poet wrote, so long ago,
for years has been debated,
this country’s not waste country friends,
but rather country wasted.
Extremes of mother nature,
droughts and flooding plains.
years and years of heartache,
so seldom does it rain.

Australia is an island,
so much of it is dry,
and most of it is waiting
for that moisture from the sky.
Most of it is desert,
good rains far between,
a rare event of flooding,
and the desert turns to green.

We’ve all heard the saying,
and we’ve all heard it said,
every year it’s talked about,
it’s written and it’s read.
There’s so much water wasted,
that runs into the sea,
someone needs to say, enough,
it’s up to you and me.

My grandfather spoke of it,
fifty years ago,
turn the rivers inland,
let the waters flow.
Water to be harnessed,
rivers to be dammed,
massive coring monsters,
can reshape our thirsty land.

Employment and machinery,
projects more and many,
planning for the future,
would cost a pretty penny.
Money creates money,
and that we have in spades,
millions, billions, trillions,
that’s how wealth is made.

Mountains to be tunnelled,
rivers intersected,
excavations, trenches formed,
and water redirected.
An engineering challenge,
on a scale to behold,
a massive undertaking,
for us all, young and old.

Hydro as a spin-off,
so many applications,
supplement our power supplies,
cheaper generation.
Farming all in overdrive,
security, job fixation,
country town expansions,
right across the nation.

Recent township floodings,
a massive National cost,
years and years of heart ache,
lives and livestock lost.
Stop the rivers flooding,
there’s water to control,
peoples lives in jeopardy,
so many to console.

Water is our guarantee
of life and our existence,
so essential for survival,
pull the plug on all resistance.
What we have is what we’ve got,
so let’s all try our best,
to navigate and utilise,
producing more, not less.

So let’s stop the nonsense,
and commence a working plan,
together as a nation,
work together hand in hand.
The benefits are enormous,
we have to make a start,
500 year projection,
an Australian beating heart.

A poet wrote, so long ago,
it’s stuck with me for years,
raised its head so many times,
at BBQ’s and beers.
If only we had water,
the inland’s understated,
this is not waste country friends,
but rather country wasted.

Glen Hughes ©
5/5/22