"Matilda to the Coast"
They came to break the wild in him,
to trim his accent down,
to box a bush-born timber child
inside a brick-built town.
The magistrate was civilised,
the ledger marked in ink,
but no man knows the current’s pull
until he sees it sink.
They called it transporting, then
when ships came over sea—
a sentence stamped in iron chains
to make the convict free.
Yet here stands young Andrew Dean,
his boots worn down to skin,
de-transporting back to Britain
where the old grey world begins.
Across the red-dirt solitude,
past Darling Scarp and sand,
he waltzed beside his sister
through a raw, indifferent land.
No bitterness against the scrub,
neither hatred for the sun,
just two small, fugitive shadows
on an exile’s reverse run.
To leave the infinite horizon
for a narrow cobblestone,
to trade the campfire's quiet ash
for cold, institutional bone—
was it choice, or circumstance,
or the gravity of blood
that pulled him from the spinifex
and back across the flood?
He turns his back upon the coast,
the salt-spray in his eyes,
a boy who walked a continent
beneath the southern skies.
The ship will carry bodies back,
the ocean engine churns,
but once you’ve waltzed those red-dust hills,
no part of you returns.
.
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Author:
crypticbard (Pseudonym) (
Offline) - Published: October 11th, 2026 05:22
- Category: Unclassified
- Views: 25
- Users favorite of this poem: sorenbarrett, Tristan Robert Lange, Paul Bell
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Comments9
Epic and historical in its implications it dives deep into psychology, culture and social manipulation to tell a tale of man's need for conformity. The history of the American Indian, the Australian bushman, Africans and many others adopted into a new culture as well as those captured and raised in a foreign culture and redeemed. Even feral children brought back to society often die or at best find it hard to adapt. A most wonderful write my friend that has implications even for those raised in society with different values and upbringing. This poem deserves far greater exposure. A fave
Most insightful reading Soren and greatly appreciated 👍🏻🙏🏻🕊️
Your poems always a pleasure to read my friend
a much enjoyed and epic journey
Thanks my friend 🙏🏻🕊️
most welcome
nicely written
Many thanks, dear Friendship🙏🏻🕊️
Good write A. Yes, criminals deported to Australia from the UK in olden days. 'Why send us your rubbish?' do you reply there?! lol.
Cheers O. 🙏🏻🕊️
A fine Historical Piece. Good Write.
Thank you dear Kevin 🙏🏻🕊️
My Pleasure.
Hello, arqios,
An horrendous affair. 'Civilised' do gooders doing what they do best, adulterating the minds, hearts and freedoms of those poor honest souls of blue skies to grey cobblestons. This is a poem well worth reading, as an Irish man,I found it heartbreaking as it is relative. A superlative passage of poetry. Thank you very much.
Wishing you much happiness,
Tony.
Thank you Tony, that truly means a lot 🙏🏻🕊️
Those boots got to me, Rik…such a young person to have been through so much already. 🌹🖤🙏🕯️🐦⬛
Those boots 🥾 were made for walking!
I suppose in a way, Austrailia benifited from prisoners from Britain.
You sort of can't get it into your mind that someone who stole a loaf of bread could be shipped out to serve a sentence.
In saying that, all my ancesters came from Australia. lol
Wow. My ancestors came here as indentured servants from Scotland, Ireland, Wales when this country was for some a penal colony. I have tried to tell their stories unsuccessfully, so thank you for this. Fourth verse especially. Nice work.
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