The sun with its withering heat
beats down cruelly on this land
of contrasts and extremes
and brings a touch of summer
across its great expanse from the north
to the south and the east to the west.
For this is the way of this southern
land where the hot arid inland
breathes across the coastal fringe
and the torrid breath dries the bush
to a crackling dangerous brown from
the lush green that came from winter’s cool rain.
24/12/2016