The Old Telegraph Station, Strangways [poem by Rex Ingamells]

[Editor: This poem by Rex Ingamells was published in Gumtops (1935).]

The Old Telegraph Station, Strangways

It is the most unhappy place these eyes
Have seen: forlorn old ruins crown
A sandy knoll, whose ugly sides reach down
To blazing desert under blazing skies.
From dawn to dark the evil, heartless cries
Of crows are heard; and only lizards brown
And hateful rainbow flies, whose buzzings drown
In space, range else where that sad spectre lies.
But things unseen come rushing to the mind:
Strong bullockies, whose pluck knows no defeat;
Drear floods, affrays with blacks in lonely parts;
Small campfires in dark wastes; and men of blind
Determination, toiling in the heat,
With blistered hands and cheeks but dauntless hearts.

Source:
Rex Ingamells. Gumtops, F. W. Preece & Sons, Adelaide, 1935, page 4

Editor’s notes:
bullockies = drivers of bullock teams

drear = dismal, dreary, or gloomy