Salt Lake

On my first trip to the outback across the endless plains, I saw a harsh and hungry land in pastel coloured stains. There are more secrets out there, than sun and shifting sand - It would take more than my lifetime to ever understand. I saw Eagles, Wrens and Butcherbirds; Kangaroo and Emu, blending with the Saltbush, in Mallee scrub and Heathland too. Choughs flock along the roadside. Bearded Dragons soak up sun; a King Brown sweeps with lightning speed; a Goanna on the run. A sight to behold my thirsty eyes; a lake filled blue and wide, big as any ocean I have seen. I could not see the other side, Wildflowers bloom with coloured heads; purple, red and blue. The Eremophila and Cassia display, a dull but greyish hue. Black dots littered 'cross the surface in their thousands do amaze. Ducks, Pelicans, Swans and Coots - further than the shimmering haze. Long legged Stints with sticky beaks tread sand along the shore. Swallows skimmed the water - what fish surfaced I'm not sure. To stand alone amid this beauty, surely, too few of us will see. Below the skies unending azure blue - vastness runs away from me. I get the chance to have reflection now 'bout hardships in my hand, but troubles in my life seem small when casting eyes across this land. Once I left the sandy shoreline, this reflection stayed a while etching past the endless Saltbush, which grows mile after mile. And the dry and dusty plains return where water’s hard to find - I yearn for comforts of my home - yet crave the views I left behind.