The hot dry summer wind whipped up the dust
Flies buzzed, as the radio compelled
A harvesting fire ban, until dusk
While the wave of searing heat held,
The fans oscillated at full blast, everyone lay still
It was Christmas...they could tell.

Willy willies spiraled, rolling turnip weed along
Lightening flashed in the sky over head,
Haze shimmered above the gum trees
Where the koala slept
The hottest for ten years, everybody said.

But then the reverie was shattered
As the phone eerily rang out,
The guys leapt into their trucks, water tanks awash
About eight miles out was the yell,
The lightening had struck.

The rolling hills were brown and parched tinder dry
She'll go up in smoke for sure
They all mused, as kangaroos leapt by,
Back-packs at the ready
The truck screeched to a halt,
For the sky was lit up, white with the blaze,
But all they heard was a voice up the track
Peace on earth, good will to all men
Dumb-struck, they stood there amazed.

Shaking their heads, they stumbled back to the trucks
As the two-way crackled out
"There's another heap of trouble
It's a glow in the local wheat shed,
You better get there on the double".

So tearing past bright orange Christmas trees
Where galahs screeched and lizards scuttled by,
They waved at the kids splashing in the dam
Then, there was the glow in the sky.

Hey mate, we better check this out
Sure looks like a new southern star
Beaming in here from a-far,
No-one was about, so they peered in the door
Grins spreading from ear to ear
For there gurgling in the straw, so small
With the cows and the chooks
Was the cutest little baby, in an old wooden stall
The gift of love for one and all.

Blessings for a Christmas of wonder from Aussie down under



Soft Whispers from
Derry's Heart Poems
© 2004 used with permission
heartwhispers@iinet.net.au

~ Australian Jingle Bells ~
Oh! Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,
Christmas in Australia on a scorching summers day, Hey!
Jingle bells, jingle bells, Christmas time is beaut !,
Oh what fun it is to ride in a rusty Holden Ute.

Dashing through the bush,
in a rusty Holden Ute,
Kicking up the dust,
esky in the boot,
Kelpie by my side,
singing Christmas songs,
It's Summer time and I am in
my singlet, shorts and thongs

~ Christmas In The Scrub ~
At Christmas time the birds all sing
The rabbits jump the lizards crawl
At Christmas time the outback rings
All for the birth of God
At the birth of God (all the wallabies hop)
For the birth of God (all the cockatoos squawk)
At the birth of God (all the platypus swim)
For the birth of God (the kookaburra laughs)
For the birth of God was such exciting news
they'd never heard before
They came from all the land to see this baby in the straw

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