The Sun Coming Up Is Like Gold

By Hugh Allan

FROM HUGH ALLAN, THE BESTSELLING AUSTRALIAN AUTHOR OF THE NOVEL HIGH LATITUDE FOR DYING AND HIS SECOND COLLECTION OF STORIES, EXPECTATIONS.

This collection of Australian verse includes poems about people, nature, pioneers and landscapes, which will inspire, sadden, entertain and amuse all lovers of great prose. The book of verse contains a

• Language: English
• Publisher: Shawline Publishing Group
• Release date: Feb 15, 2022
• ISBN: 9781922701114

Hugh Allan

Hugh Allan is a retired scientist. He and his family have travelled extensively around Australia and the world. Hugh is an active member of the Australian Bush Poets Association, the Fellowship of Australian Writers Queensland and the Australian Association of Authors. His first novel, High Latitude for Dying was published in July 2020 by Shawline Publishing Group. Hugh has had over forty poems and articles published in various magazines in Australia.

Book preview

THE

sun

COMING UP IS LIKE

GOLD

A book of Outback Verse

The Sun Coming Up Is Gold Copyright © 2021 Hugh Allan.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

This is a work of nonfiction. The events and conversations in this book have been set down to the best of the author’s ability, although some names and details may have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals. Every effort has been made to trace or contact all copyright holders. The publishers will be pleased to make good any omissions or rectify any mistakes brought to their attention at the earliest opportunity.

Printed in Australia

Cover design by Shawline Publishing Group Pty Ltd

Images in this book are the copyright of Shawline Publishing Group Pty Ltd

Illustrations within this book are the copyright of Shawline Publishing Group Pty Ltd

First Printing: February 2022

Shawline Publishing Group Pty Ltd

www.shawlinepublishing.com.au

Paperback ISBN- 9781922701008

Ebook ISBN- 9781922701114

THE

sun

COMING UP IS LIKE

GOLD

A book of Outback Verse

HUGH ALLAN

To my wife, Wendy, for her support and her appreciation of poetry.

Acknowledgements:

The Fellowship of Australian Writers Queensland,

Australian Bush Poets Association,

Bronze Swagman Anthologies of Bush Verse, and

Probus Club of Turramurra,

for publishing some of the poems in this book in their magazines, anthologies and newsletters.

CONTENTS

NATURE

4 ... Sunrise

5 ... A Garden of Nature

6 ... Autumn Leaves

7 ... The River

8 ... The Southern Ocean

11 ... Storm

14 ... Elegy on a Bushfire

16 ... True Blue

THE OUTBACK

20 ... The Ballad of Annie and Ted

23 ... Rock Dreaming

26 ... Magnificent Mud

28 ... Richer Now

30 ... The Drovers’ Christmas

32 ... The Girl from Mataranka

38 ... The Mine at Moline

43 ... Just in case

47 ... Derby

50 ... Nature at play

52 ... The Mine on Koolan Island

56 ... Shirley’s Lament

58 ... The Girl at the Airport

59 ... Lament for Lauren

60 ... Living on the Overland Telegraph

62 ... Living on the Trans line

64 ... A Boy and a Steam Train

67 ... The Outback Ride

OUTBACK SMILES

70 ... The Ballad of Beryl and Ned

73 ... Maclean from Milparinka

76 ... Neighbours

78 ... My April Adventure

79 ... The Farmers Jack and Jill

81 ... The Wedding

PEOPLE AND LIFE

85 ... On Friendship

86 ... Of Migrant Celebration

89 ... The Pioneer Breed

93 ... This Land

94... Commemorations

95 ... Of Negligence and Nature

97 ... Recycling

EPILOGUE

100 ... Not Just Tennis

104 ... Seventy-six

NATURE

Sunrise

SUNRISE

From a cliff, I gaze to seaward at the opalescent glow,

where the stars are disappearing in a luminescent flow,

and I ponder on the motions of the planets and the oceans,

as the line of my horizon comes to life.

Then a crimson wash infuses through the sky, becoming red,

as, across the ocean’s surface, the illuminations spread.

And the shimmering reflection lights a spark in my perception

that the spectacle unfolding mirrors life.

And cerise, extending higher, lifting up a glint of gold,

brings a flood of inspiration for the riddles unresolved,

and I venerate the dawning and the wonder of the morning,

as it brings the world around me back to life.

Then the rising of a ruby from the silence of the sea,

forms a segment, then a circle, then it quivers, breaking free,

and in floating ever higher, tinting clouds with orange fire,

it excites in me the miracle of life.

A GARDEN OF NATURE

A soft velvet rain hangs a mist in the trees,

releasing aromas that float on the breeze.

While soothing the grasses and silencing crows

it hurries the lizards where nobody goes.

A spider-web glistens like delicate lace,

embracing red roses with angular grace.

The sunshine returning rekindles the quest

of spiders emerging, awaiting a guest;

the birds give a flutter and shake off a spray,

then land on the lawn looking keenly for prey;

the lizards lie sunning, though never at ease

when rainbow rosellas explode from the trees.

Then darkness descends with symphonic assent,

enticing the possums in wary descent;

and bandicoots scratch in the earth for their food,

aware of attack, with discretion imbued;

the hoot of an owl, ever watchful and stern,

induces