wrenched from land and attitudes

and strained from wealth of lore

assigned to fields and latitudes

we had no real volition for

longing for a life long gone

without the words we wander on

less conscious of audacity

felt but not quite understood

my father swapped veracity

with apologists who affirmed he should

presume a life of vagaries

where forests can't reveal their wood

more inclined to wade along

in shallows close to common ground

than scan the deep where we belong

and see both wake and lands unfound

neglect the myth at our great cost

for without the words we wander lost

my dream exposes bygone air

to relish its etesian link

emotions that were lying bare

articulate to help me think

a promenade of charm and zest

with sweeter words we wander best

from scarecrow latin cloth and spine

the tatters fell from grace

and woolly words shorn undefined

denied our folk their ringer place

with all our tribes thus set upon

without the words we wander on

copyright 2004 bob tatnell

australia's most furtivus poet