WHERE SILENCE REIGNS
(Woods/Wyndham-Read)

Out back where silence reigns on the great grey western plains
The sunlit plains of Clancy's where it hardly ever rains
Where the traveller's always thirsty and the water never near
The creaking of the saddle is the only sound you hear

Where the quart pot doesn't rattle, the stirrup doesn't clink
And the emu stalks in freedom and it's far too hot to think
Where the tracks are dry and dusty, the air is seldom clear
The creaking of the saddle is the only sound you hear

Where the fences reach to sundown and are mostly made of wire
And the sun goes down each evening like a glowing ball of fire
Where the water-bag is empty and the tucker dry and drear
The creaking of the saddle is the only sound you hear

In shades of gidgee bushes lies a great red kangaroo
Asleep in the noonday sunshine while a doleful-looking crow
With a voiceless gape salutes us as we come and disappear
The creaking of the saddle is the only sound you hear

In sultry shades of silence bounded by a shimmering sky
Make a man feel very lonely, very small and very dry
I would cry in desolation but I cannot shed a tear
The creaking of the saddle is the only sound you hear

Another poem by Walter Woods that Wyndham-Read clipped and adapted. The full poem may be found at page 207 of Stewart and Keesing's 'Australian Bush Ballads'. The full text of the previously posted 'I don't go shearing now' may be found at page 245 - it is indeed a saga that stretches over 3 pages. Woods was an interesting character - a journalist and politician. Read about him here:

Click

Where silence reigns

--Stewie.