From a spring, high in the foothills of the mighty Great Divide,

Where the wedge-tailed eagles soar on thermals free,

There’s a tiny stream that gathers pace as down the mountainside,

It begins it’s hard won journey to the sea.

And the stream becomes a river as it travels on it’s way,

Joined by creeks and gullies swelled by mountain rain,

Down through farming land and forest where the brush-tailed possums play,

Then released by Glenbawn Dam on to the plain.

Past the vineyards and the horse studs and the dairy farms it flows,

Through a wonderland of scenery unsurpassed,

But the scenery is ephemeral and everybody knows

That the beauty of this valley cannot last.

Downstream

There’s an open-cut invasion spreading slowly ‘cross the land,

Doing exponential damage every day,

Surely destined to continue unless someone takes a stand,

Heaven help the farms and townships in it’s way.

There’s an open-cut invasion and it’s known without a doubt

That the politicians back it to a man,

Mesmerised by short term profits, and the jobs they skite about,

Willing puppets of the boardrooms of Japan.

And the multinational companies rape the land for all it’s worth,

Working twenty four hour shifts without a break,

As the dinosaur-like draglines tear the guts out of the earth,

Leaving devastated moonscapes in their wake.

While the bureaucrats and schemers using governmental clout

Change the rules and push the limits every day,

As they minimize the buffer zones and force the families out,

Guided by their toothless arm, the EPA.

For the EPA set boundaries as to where to draw the line,

How much poison can be poured in to the streams,

And they monitor the noise and dust of yet another mine

As they pander to the multinational’s dreams.

And they liaise with the locals as they seek to sanitise

The environmental damage people dread,

But the consultative process only serves to emphasise

That the mine will roll along whatever’s said.

Sure it’s good for the economy, but ponder what we’ve lost,

Can’t our so called leaders think outside the square?

‘Çause for every economic gain, there has to be a cost,

And the cost is poisoned water, soil and air.

There’s an open cut invasion spreading slowly cross the land,

Doing exponential damage every day,

Surely destined to continue unless someone takes a stand,

Heaven help the farms and townships in it’s way.

Greg Scott ©