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Out West of the
Great Divide
Out west of the Great Divide the vastness
of the outback looms The dryness of this harsh land - the gales of dust
trail plumes The stockman cracks his whip - the cattle roar on past The
land so dry - the cracks appear - the raising of the dust These
roughriders on horses riding on this here our dry land The crack of his
whip is wielding his loud cracking command
The vastness of the cattle station with
hundreds heads of steers Drought's taken its toll - rivers drying -
portioned mud hole series The hard working stockman in his
uncompromising harsh land The grass has long died - the cowlick and hay
doth lend a hand To feed the hungry stock that are bellowing with hunger
starved Now seen the bones and carcasses of most younger calves
The wasting away of scrawny cattle - the
stockman prays for rain The drought in this dry continent is causing
stress and strain The stockman's prayers are answered - the first
raindrops appear Now the sound of heavy rain and thunder - a musical
symphony He cracks his whip again - upon the muddy soaked ground And
with a loud "Yahoo" - he heads off homeward bound
Now the river is a fillin and risin - the
water supply renewed The grass now will soon be a growin - the cattle's
supply of food The stockman watches the Heavens with a gleam in his eye
His cattle had been saved - food soon in plentiful supply He watches the
crack of lightnin - the black cloud loomin in He knows that the drought
has broken and the rains settled in
He saddles his horse in the barn - his
Drizabone weathered and worn He places his hat upon his head riding out
in the early wet morn His whip in hand he whistles to his trusty cattle
dog Blue Then rides the muddy trail slowly his cattle dog followin too
The rain beatin upon his brow - his eyes stingin with pain He looks to
the Heavens a blessing for this liquid gold rain
The river is a risin rapidly - the gush
as it swirls on by He sinks in his saddle a thinkin this water a blessed
supply This rain has saved his livelihood his steers will fatten high
With a grin of joy he knows his cattle will no more die He watches the
cattle a dreamin - that of the auctioneer yard Stock will bring in a
quid - he knows he's been dealt an ace card Satisfied with his blessing
he whips the horse onward to go Then ridin adjacent the river watchin
the strong current flow
Copyright 23/7/2008 Helena Piotrowski
‘MY
OWN WAY’
Did
you ever have something that you wanted to erase
What’s
done is done – that’s something you can never replace
So
don’t sit there worrying or pulling out your hair
Dust
yourself down, pick yourself up and start without a care
For
life is there for living and that page was already done
Do
yourself a favour – smile – your battle has just been won
Look
for things beyond horizons and start something new
You
never know if you don’t try to see what you can do
So
no matter what your fate or what was the woe
Forget
the past – start up anew and new things begin to sow
Life
is always a battle but there’s always something new
Woman
battle on - life’s a challenge through and through
And
if you’re doing great but a step back you take
Keep
on pushing forward never ever hesitate
And
when you’ve taken steps forward started something new
Life’s
like a book – read that page quickly if you don’t like the view
And
when you have grown old look back on life and say
Life
wasn’t always easy but I did my own way
Copyright
– Helena Madsen Piotrowski – 18/02/2009
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'LEST WE
FORGET'
In life you never gave us a chance In
life it was always that same old dance You stole, you lied and you did
plunder Our human rights you put asunder
I am an Australian - In pride I stand
Before you and God - I want a chance in this land Why can't you give
this before it's too late Why are your cold hearts so full of hate
This is my country Australia too My
parents are proud - They're also true blue My father with others fought
for your freedom so now you are free Why was this freedom not extended
to me
What can I do, what can I say You gave us
asbestosis and our lives you took away You starved me and my children
and slandered our good name Then trauma to my children - that they had
to sustain
You bashed, raped and broke my legs - my
song You even tried to take away our Catholic Religion You took my
furniture - my child's belongings and our home But my faith in God kept
me so very, very strong I'm home with God - so I am no longer alone
Then in court you watched my family
falling apart Even the magistrate thought it was funny and had a good
laugh No justice or rights for a child - you had no heart Special
occasions, phone calls and access for my child and me you did boycott
Total destruction of mother and child - you did this so matter-of-fact
With fear my soul did shudder while
police did wield his gun around He bashed and broke my nose then thrust
on the ground He had his way with me then thrust me in jail and did
imply That I was the disorderly one, that it was I that told a lie
Police thrust me into mental hospitals, bashed me with zeal and zest I
never had a chance against you - and God was my best witness
Everytime you caught up with me there was
another blow Then you took away my child from me - so no longer were we
a duo And blamed it all on me while you stood with your arms akimbo The
rest of my life is the only thing, what's left for you to take But now
I'm in God's arms, that'll make you hesitate Like a pawn you used my
child and told me I've got to go back Everywhere I ran you were always
on my track
You followed and chased us from state to
state With fear I ran from you and I tried to accelerate But you were
always on my tail and always did manipulate I won't allow you anymore
for my family and me to humiliate I was chased like a criminal, your
obsession desperate
I ran from your gaze desperately
scrambling on my broken feet So in Mackay I'll take my stance and take
away the heat Against your mighty power, with no justice these odds
somehow I must defeat South Australia, New South Wales but in Queensland
in Mackay here I found my peace But it was here that my child was
abducted, from being a mother I did cease I knelt before God, He helped
me get my peace
Why would you do all this I want to
ascertain Why wield your mighty power and cause so much disdain You even
wanted to take away all my aspiration You wanted it all - my love, my
life and even my determination But you can't touch my spirit, that
belongs to God and me May God be merciful and give you the mercy - The
mercy that you never gave to me or my family I may be an Australian -
but within Australia I was not free
This was against our human rights but you
did it just the same We were your easy target - we were your easy game
You even tried to break my spirit that is within me But I had the power
of God on my side - that's why you could never succeed Your final blow
you adbucted my child and broke my family Four days of anguish, horror
and hell where no-one told me where she'd be This is against our
constitution against our Australian Act Only God knows how you got away
with doing all of that
All of my child's life you done her wrong
It's time to stop and for all of us to ponder The way we care for
children - the old way we must sever How many years does this all have
to go on? The needles that you gave me, my kidneys it affected I did not
consent to the needles - but the pain you still inflicted Our whole life
was so unfair Our whole life you gave us the biggest cross to bear I was
a mother with children but you didn't care I went down on my knees
before God for help and said a prayer
Everything you did to us there was no
consent The extreme suffering of me, my family, without any recompense
So if this is going to be My very last destiny I'll stand straight and
proud with God, my Saint Mary and me Standing as an activist for
freedom, a childs' rights we Must never ever let Our rights and freedom
to loose 'Lest We Forget'
Copyright @ Helena Madsen 1999
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