*
Submit
Login
Links
Contests
Featured Poems
Fun & Games
Poems
Poets
Famous Poems
Famous Poets
Dictionary
Poem Types
Books
Resources
Blogs
Syllable Counter
Articles
Forum
POTD
New Poems
Anthology
Classifieds
Quotes
*
Contests
Featured Poems
Fun & Games
Poems
Poets
Famous Poems
Famous Poets
Fun & Games
Dictionary
Types of Poems
Books
Resources
Blogs
Syllable Counter
Articles
Forum
Poem of the Day
New Poems
Anthology
Classifieds
Quotes
Email Poem
Your IP Address: 104.23.243.100
From Email:
Required
Email Address Not Valid.
To Email:
Email Address Not Valid.
Required
Subject
Required
Personal Note:
Poem Title:
Poem
A cloud of dust on the long white road, And the teams go creeping on Inch by inch with the weary load; And by the power of the green-hide goad The distant goal is won. With eyes half-shut to the blinding dust, And necks to the yokes bent low, The beasts are pulling as bullocks must; And the shining tires might almost rust While the spokes are turning slow. With face half-hid 'neath a broad-brimmed hat That shades from the heat's white waves, And shouldered whip with its green-hide plait, The driver plods with a gait like that Of his weary, patient slaves. He wipes his brow, for the day is hot, And spits to the left with spite; He shouts at 'Bally', and flicks at 'Scot', And raises dust from the back of 'Spot', And spits to the dusty right. He'll sometimes pause as a thing of form In front of a settler's door, And ask for a drink, and remark 'It's warm', Or say 'There's signs of a thunder-storm'; But he seldom utters more. But the rains are heavy on roads like these; And, fronting his lonely home, For weeks together the settler sees The teams bogged down to the axletrees, Or ploughing the sodden loam. And then when the roads are at their worst, The bushman's children hear The cruel blows of the whips reversed While bullocks pull as their hearts would burst, And bellow with pain and fear. And thus with little of joy or rest Are the long, long journeys done; And thus—'Tis a cruel war at the best— Is distance fought in the mighty West, And the lonely battles won.
Type the characters you see in the picture
Required
Member Area
My Admin
Profile and Settings
Edit My Poems
Edit My Quotes
Edit My Short Stories
Edit My Articles
My Comments Inboxes
My Comments Outboxes
My Poetry Duels
Soup Mail
Poetry Contests
Contest Results/Status
Followers
Poems of Poets I Follow
Friend Builder
Member Authors
Poetry Challenges
Soup Social
Poetry Forum
New/Upcoming Features
The Wall
Soup Facebook Page
Who is Online
Link to Us
Member Poems
Featured Poems of the Week
Poems - Top 100 New
Poems - Top 100 All-Time
Poems - Best
Poems - by Topic
Poems - New
Poems - Read
Poems - Unread
Member Poets
Best New Poets
New Poets
Top 100 Poets with Most Poems
Top 100 Poets with Most Poems Recent
Top 100 Community Poets
Top 100 Contest Poets
In Memoriam
Famous Poems
Famous Poems - African American
Famous Poems - Best
Famous Poems - Classical
Famous Poems - English
Famous Poems - Haiku
Famous Poems - Love
Famous Poems - Short
Famous Poems - Top 100
Famous Poets
Famous Poets - Living
Famous Poets - 100 Most Popular
Famous Poets - Women
Famous Poets - African American
Famous Poets - Beat
Famous Poets - Cinquain
Famous Poets - Classical
Famous Poets - English
Famous Poets - Haiku
Famous Poets - Hindi
Famous Poets - Jewish
Famous Poets - Love
Famous Poets - Metaphysical
Famous Poets - Modern
Famous Poets - Punjabi
Famous Poets - Romantic
Famous Poets - Spanish
Famous Poets - Suicidal
Famous Poets - Urdu
Famous Poets - War
Poetry Resources
Anagrams
Bible
Book Store
Character Counter
Cliché Finder
Poetry Clichés
Common Words
Copyright Information
Grammar
Grammar Checker
Greeting Card Maker
Homonym
Homophones
How to Write a Poem
Lyrics
Love Poem Generator
New Poetic Forms
Plagiarism Checker
Poetry
Poetry Art
Publishing
Random Word Generator
Short Stories
Spell Checker
Videos
Word Counter