Tags
Australian bush poetry, Australian traditional poetry, Daisy Bates, Kabbarli, poem, poetry, sonnet
In hardship and privation her life spent,
But now respite in these much greener lands.
Far from the treeless plains and desert sands,
Down by the Murray, pitched, a humble tent,
And by it her slight figure proud – unbent.
A vision from a bygone time she stands
With full length skirt, high collar and gloved hands.
So lives the aged comforter content.
Kabbarli – grandmother, that was the name
The people from the distant deserts gave
To her: a friend, a confidant, a slave.
She nursed the sick, the infirm, and the lame.
Perhaps no saint, though selfless, strong and brave.
Her life’s work – remnants of a race to save.
