Australia Day 2007
following the discovery of Botany Bay by Cook
New South Wales was first established
under the equanimity of Arthur Phillip
with authority from Pitt, Lord Sydney and George III
due to over-crowded English jails
establishment of an experimental penal settlement
all were put in the same boat
from that first fleet of eleven
the convicts given a second chance
and soldiers, free settlers, sailors, allocated
equal rations, and a law that would be first
to protect a convict before a thieving soldier
and so over the years much has been achieved
from the federation of the States
to bloodied Diggers at Anzac Cove
continual Aboriginal recognition
and respect for the culture of extensive migrant intake
while prospering below the southern skies
so Australia and Australians
unite as one people, the
diverse voices of many make one note
ring out loud, to rejoice again
at the founding of this fair nation
and the rights of all its citizens
but today it is not a hulk in the Thames
but a hiccup in an alien land that
allows a man to lie naked
before a foreign power, exposed to
five years of violated rights –
the egalitarian spirit of Arthur Phillip
gives rent to a cry of shame!
© Richard Scutter 26 January 2007
Comment on Austalia Day 2007
David Hicks, an Australian citizen, has been incaserated in Guantanamo Bay for over 5 years without charges made. Responsibility has been abdicated relegating legal treatment to a USA military tribunal. Other countries in similar circumstances, including Great Britain, have protected the basic rights of their own citizens.
New South Wales was first established
under the equanimity of Arthur Phillip
with authority from Pitt, Lord Sydney and George III
due to over-crowded English jails
establishment of an experimental penal settlement
all were put in the same boat
from that first fleet of eleven
the convicts given a second chance
and soldiers, free settlers, sailors, allocated
equal rations, and a law that would be first
to protect a convict before a thieving soldier
and so over the years much has been achieved
from the federation of the States
to bloodied Diggers at Anzac Cove
continual Aboriginal recognition
and respect for the culture of extensive migrant intake
while prospering below the southern skies
so Australia and Australians
unite as one people, the
diverse voices of many make one note
ring out loud, to rejoice again
at the founding of this fair nation
and the rights of all its citizens
but today it is not a hulk in the Thames
but a hiccup in an alien land that
allows a man to lie naked
before a foreign power, exposed to
five years of violated rights –
the egalitarian spirit of Arthur Phillip
gives rent to a cry of shame!
© Richard Scutter 26 January 2007
Comment on Austalia Day 2007
David Hicks, an Australian citizen, has been incaserated in Guantanamo Bay for over 5 years without charges made. Responsibility has been abdicated relegating legal treatment to a USA military tribunal. Other countries in similar circumstances, including Great Britain, have protected the basic rights of their own citizens.
See also Just Deserts
Flag waving ceremony ... Moruya NSW ... 26 January 2007
posted by Richard<>
1 Comments:
Hi, Mr. Richard. I happen to stumble on your poem upon using the Google search engine for a school assignment; we're required to read and understand an Australian poem. I love your poem...I was wondering if you could allow me to use your poem? If yes (thank you), could you perhaps help me to analyse some part of it?
If no (also thank you), I've a poem in mind: THE LAST TO LEAVE by Leon Gellert. I was also wondering if you could help me to analyse some part of it?
I'm sorry to have bother you; anyway thanks for posting; I'm just real glad to have been able to read such wonderful poems. Thank you.
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