Terra Australis

 

                           Terra Australis

             1^st Fleet 1788                                     2^nd Fleet 1790

1st, 2nd fleets sailed via Cape of Good Hope, explore,

adventure, upper deck passengers never tried before,

Australia, Van Diemen’s land, stake their claims,

lower deck, scurvy, cruelty, convicts clamped in chains.

 

  Heat, sleet challenged all, no favour,

  free settlers exploited indentured labour,

  harsh servitude, slaves, toil, sweat, tears,

  cleared virgin bush, reducing one’s fears.

 

  Convicts frustrated endured sentence as decreed,

  then joined landowners, determined to succeed,

  carved their future in topsoil far beyond

  beset by harsh times, unify, common bond.

     We became Australians.

                       Aftermath!

Anglo settlers, freed convicts, forcibly thrived,

sadly, indigenous tribes barely survived,

pillaged, raped, forced off their land,

thousands died, lives doomed, damned!

SORRY?                                                    GUILTY!  

 Alan Pinkus                                                                                    alpinkus.blogspot.com