You Ask Me Why I Live Here - Anthony Nosworthy, Strathgordon, Tasmania
So, you ask me why I live here, then let me tell you why,
In this rugged wondrous place where the mountains reach the sky.
Here, where man is an intruder amid the forest and the ferns,
Where sunshine into rainfall so often, quickly, turns.
You ask me why I live here, when most would find severe
The mist-enshrouded mountains and deep-enchanted mere.
Where the mist and fog will swirl among the button grass,
Where sun and windless day turns the lake to a looking glass.
You ask me why I live here, when each new dawning day
Is never the same as the one before, in any conceivable way.
Where the sun caresses mountains and changes every hue
A kaleidoscope of colour from scarlet into blue.
You ask me why I live here, when the crimson sun does
Set upon the lake and mountains, ere night has cast its net.
Where the evening sky is bathed in light under red and yellow clouds,
Then twilight settles in again before the night-time shroud.
You ask me why I live here, where the birds and insects sing,
When across the lake and mountains their joyous voices ring.
Where cries of cockatoo and currawong will often break the peace,
Whose calling is a ritual, which never seems to cease.
You ask me why I live here, when by the lake I stand
With rod and line and tackle gripped firm within my hand.
Where fishing is a pretext for what I try to find,
A peace and oneness with my world and for me, my peace of mind.
