WHERE CAMEL PADS GO DOWN
(Jack Sorensen)

Last night I dreamed that Father Time had turned life's pages back
And once again a sturdy youth I took the northern track
With my lost mates of long ago I left behind the town
And headed for the country where the camel pads go down

But down the long brown highways, over plains and ranges grey
The speedy motor transports bear the shearers of today
Now spinifex has overgrown the camel pads at last
The camel train and bicycle have drifted to the past

Creator of the spinifex, the hungry sandhills brown
The brazen sky, the creek beds dry, the plains where tracks wind down
Give back to me that which I had, the heart, the strength of limb
That I may do the things I did before my eyes grew dim

Those youthful dreams that once I had of heights to which I'd bid
Are shattered by the memory of things I really did
And down forsaken highways where the twining snakewoods grow
I yearn to travel northwards as I did long years ago

Roger Montgomery put a tune to this poem. It may be found on Dingo's Breakfast 'Jack Sorensen: Weaver of Dreams' album.

--Stewie.