Australia Blue (cheerfully ripping off Mao Zedong, “Snow”)

Cen­tre coun­try scene:

A thou­sand miles of desert,
Ten thou­sand miles of shim­mer­ing heat.

In and out the Dead Heart,
Only one great vast­ness;
Up and down the Dia­man­ti­na,
Sand tor­rents stopped and stilled.

Hills dance like rain­bow ser­pents,
Mirages race like shad­owed giants,
Try­ing to vie with the sun in their reach.

A wild eye is need­ed
To view this wilder­ness decked with blue
In all its unfor­giv­ing beau­ty.

Thor

[Thor’s oth­er poems at http://thormay.net/literature/timepassing/timepassindex.html ]