Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE DINGO-CHASER, by LEX MCLENNAN


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE DINGO-CHASER, by                    
First Line: His camp was warm in the wilgas, the scent of the dew was sweet
Last Line: He follows across the midnight the way that the wild dog goes.
Subject(s): Animals; Cattle; Death; Dingoes; Dogs; Story-telling; Dead, The


HIS camp was warm in the wilgas, the scent of the dew was sweet,
But a dingo howled in the nearness and the bullock sprang to his feet;
He pawed the ground and bellowed and into his fang-scarred ears
The bawl of a frightened yearling came drifting across the years.

The plain was a sea of silver, the light of the moon was clear,
When a bitch and her lean red lover swooped down on a pale-faced steer.
Gripped fast in the clutch of terror, he twisted and propped and sped,
But his ears were like tattered ribbons and his fang-slashed haunches bled;

And Death hung low on the blue-grass as a yearling sank to his knees;
Then the flame of his spirit flickered as a coal might flare in the breeze.
In a flash he had learned his lesson, he lunged as the pikers dart
And caught the bitch on the shoulder and drove a horn to her heart.

He wheeled, and his eyes were embers that glared through a mist of red;
And the lean dog quailed in the tussocks and turned in his tracks and fled.
Stumbling and weak and weary, with all but his spirit spent,
He followed across the blue-grass the way that the wild dog went.

He runs with the calves and weaners, and now when the stars are gold
—For blood on his white horns dappled, for hate that will not grow
cold—
He waits for the howl of a dingo, and then, as the echo slows,
He follows across the midnight the way that the wild dog goes.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net