"Is this Australia"

Is this Australia you may ask yourself?
Compared to the rest of the world
We’re in pretty bloody good health
Our skies aren’t too polluted
And our beaches are all clean
Most roads aren’t too overcrowded
There are still some, spaces in-between.
Most Aussies you’ll find are really friendly
If their Aussies to the core
If they have Australia in their heart
with no allegiance to some distant foreign shore
What is it about Australia that makes it better than the rest?
Is it our reputation for succeeding when put to the fire or the test?
Is it our friendly hand shake when you’re doing the right thing?
Is it our support of the battler that’s just tryin to have a win
Is it our team spirit that’s always as solid as a log
Or is it our dedication to the one labeled the underdog
So what is it about Australia
that really makes Australia great
Could it be the very foundation of our culture
of always standing up for mate to mate
I really love my country and its features are first rate
26th of January is to all Australians
The most important date
Now once more the Aussie spirit
Is again called out to tramp through mud
To help friends we haven’t met yet
To recover from yet another flood
This one has taken many lives
Whole families in one wave
Whole towns evacuated
With just lives being saved
Possessions can be replaced.
Memories live on inside
Names will all be counted for those
poor bastards that have died
politicians kissin babies and wading in the mud
ending up in hospital
poor ol Mr rudd
the Ranga doin the rounds
with that smile fixed on her face
at least she let the army in
for that we all, give grace
anna could be in trouble
for taking time to open the gate
all that untimely water
just adding to their fate
lives are lost houses gone
whole suburbs under siege
it didn’t happen to me
and for that I am relieved
My sister’s flooded in
but is not flooded out
No one I know has died and for that I give a shout
I shed a tear for the neighbors
That watched their neighbors’ die
Trapped on the other side
Alive but will forever cry
Parents holding children
As their car swept down the stream
Their last moments full of panic
Last thoughts of what may have been
Children watching parents clutching onto limbs
Then tumbling down the creek
Knowing their future
Was looking terminally bleak
People will rise again
As they have done in the past
Human nature is our strength
It what’s makes us last
So throw in the Aussie spirit
And you have one formidable force
When that 19th hole is reached again
It will be mate to mate of course
17/01/2011 jeffthepoet@hotmail.com