THE SPIRIT OF PALEFACE – KOSCIUSZKO’S KING .. Maureen Clifford © The #Scribblybarkpoet
No sighting at all not a skerrick of hair
it’s as if they have disappeared into thin air.
No worn tracks festooned with hoofprints or dung
and the hills do not echo with songs they have sung
They have vanished from sight like the dark fleeing night
and we hope that they’re safe but we fear for their flight.
Watchers watch, as do others who oft’ walk the trail
for a glimpse of a stallion with hide scarred and pale
or perhaps his offsider, a big rangy bay.
or the foals who were born before fire got away.
But despite many eyes in the sky, on the ground,
there’s no sighting of Paleface or his mob around.
There were bodies a’plenty found after the fires
with the grim grin of rictus, death always inspired.
And though burnt and disfigured such pitiful sights
impossible to recognize try as folks might.
There were none they could recognize as the lost grey
so there’s still hope perhaps that they did get away.
It’s been over nine months now and hope lingers on
but reality check tells us that we are wrong.
For had he survived – and escaped miles away
he’d return to his mountains where once he held sway.
To the white covered slopes where the snow gums grow strong.
To the grass covered plains where the grasses grow long.
Where the warrigal’s cry echoes all round the hills
and where wedgetails still fly, hunting rabbits and thrills.
Yes he’d find his way home if God willing he could
but he hasn’t, although we’re all wishing he would.
So I bid fond adieu to that proud mountain king
with thanks for the memories that photographs bring.
Someday we may yet see another grey horse
with a tangle of dreadlocks emerge from the North
with a band of bright fillies and foals shaded grey
yet another descendent of Thowra. He may
have the genes of his ancestor – Paleface the King
The hills will once more welcome the echoing
of a Stallion’s challenge ringing out so strong.
But the memory of Paleface will still linger on.
6.11.2020
*****The horrendous bushfires of 2019/2020 across Australia saw many of our beloved brumbies lost to the fires. Paleface was an iconic brumby from the Snowy Mountain area – his mob was well known across Australia, and thankfully photographed extensively by many photographers.
Photo by Carol Hancock
Nelle's journey 