Vonda Stanley's collection of early Australian bush poems

 

THE MAN FROM STRATHBOGIE

 

Kelly on a mountain

Beating on a drum

Thundering down Strathbogie

Bringing brumbies home.

 

Kelly in a clouded night

The white face in the rain

Seeking a late candle

Set to window pane.

The stranger in the shadow

Of the last camp fire,

Silent as a snow gum,

Burdened with desire.

 

Kelly is the wind man

In the heart of all,

Running short on conscience,

Holding law in thrall,

The apocalyptic horseman

'Twixt moonlight and the day

Who rides through gold to murder,

To quicklime and to clay.

 

Mary Finnin (born 1906)

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