Bunyip
Early settlers heard its screams
Lurking in billabongs, creeks and streams
A myth or real that question remains
Indigenous folklore further explains
Perhaps a cultural memory of an animal extinct
Though the image of the Bunyip for them is distinct
Bones and skulls have been found over the years
Attributed to the Bunyip, adding to their fears
The tales of the creature weave a story so seeming
Its belief and existence a feature of The Dreaming
Categories:
bunyip, dream, myth,
Form: Rhyme
Bunyip
Old Bunyip lurked in the billabong
He had a calf like face
Had the body of a seal
strong magic in this place
Native fishermen caught small Bunyip
One thought to carry it home
Dream time legend says
Mother came riding a wall of water
So baby wouldn’t be alone
Now water swirled round his feet
He looked at the girl beside him
Saw a black bird so sweet
Black swans the tribe abide in
Stay away from the billabong……..Aboriginal waterhole
Bad magic there resides
Don’t be a foolish plurry nong
Black swans there be your guide
Categories:
bunyip, adventurewater, magic, water,
Form: Ballad
Cubbie worker…
So you worked on an out station on Cubbie…
Saw the cattle tracks and also the sheep …
You were only a poor boundary rider …
On your straw bed the hut you did sleep…
The Manager ate in the dining room ….
Jackaroo's, silk shirts and ties were so neat…
Station workers they ate in the kitchen…
The rest of us on the wood heap…
The Pommy overlords sent out the workers…
Housemaids, Jackaroo's, the book keeper…
So the Aussies were duffing his cattle…
Thought Lost in the drought the grim reaper?….
Down near the river the old tribe had cut….
Left handed holes in the Coolabahs hides…
These left handed men are gone, but…
now in Goodooga descendants reside….
You saw the tracks went through the fence….
The boundary fence had opened wide ….
The cattle tracks unbranded young Micky bulls….
And Heifers were side by side….
I’m Paddy the Aboriginal I can track..
The Bunyip or Porkypine….
Boss don’t never give me a fair bloody crack….
It ain't no business of mine….hey
Don Johnson
Categories:
bunyip, angst
Form: Ballad