A River Ruined By Man . . .

[Cas van Loon]

In quiet valley there is a waterfall seemingly frozen in time
result of man's interference with nature, waterfall salty brine
the Fitzgerald River, series of smelly, stagnant , brackish pools
nature adapting to salty landscape, using various plants as tools

Stringy plants, windblown pockets of soil, debris in clefts and cracks
notable absence of native animals leaving prints on salty tracks
shards of paperbark, high up in trees after recent floods, stranded
like washing, hung out a long time ago in Dreamtime, abandoned

Brown stains of water trickling down grooves on granite rock face
a violent act of nature, in very distant past, must have taken place
then suddenly, coastal barrier of sand dunes appear, white as snow
slowly encroaching vegetation in harsh environment tries to grow

Large Tiger snake, scaly body and grotesque, imitation Mallee root
in this desolate windswept landscape it's always damp underfoot
Christmas spiders, patterned yellow, black, orange web on ground
Goannas, a few ground dwellers, subdued colours, scurry round

Round hole in granite, water deep within, smooth steep sides
on bottom dead Goanna, desperate for water, down it did slide
low slung clouds, divergent rays of sunshine in this salt laden air
threatening rains, staying on far horizon, not moving anywhere

Sea-breeze, rustling Banksia seed cones, backed by chorus of birds
songs of nature, treasured time warp, not always understood, heard
darkness descending Milky Way, dissecting moonless sky, black void
landscape, once flourishing, now almost barren, due to human exploit

[Heather]

You are a great observer of nature Cas. Mankind has a lot to answer for.

Heather

[Cas van Loon]

Hi Heather, it has always been our aim when we were travelling in Australia not to just mindlessly go from one place to the next. There is so much to see in this country of diverse environments and see what man has done to it. In some places one could cry. others one can say ''good on you, a preservation job well done''. After all we have environments that NO other country ever will have. Thank you for you comment Heather. Cas

[vwalla]

Cas
Are you an artist? You certainly have painted a picture in words!
Thank you
Val W

[Cas van Loon]

Hi VWalla, No I'm not an artist but have spend my whole life amongst words and more words at the "coalface" in the printing industry, before the paper went to press. Some of it has rubbed off and you can find this in many of my Poems. If you had followed all the Poems that I posted in this forum you would have seen the trend. Another way is to follow my "Clogs over Aussie" blog page (has been going for 6 years and changes every month) on which I'm sure you'll find many Poems to your liking. When you get my blog page up just keep on scrolling down, not many Poems are repeated. Enjoy the experience, greetings, Cas.
PS.: www.aussiebushpoet.blogspot.com

[thestoryteller]

Cas certainly had a love of verse and enjoyed sharing his love of life.

Sleep peacefully old friend.


Merv.