|
THE RED STEER
The word came from the mountain,
The beast had broken yoke,
Advancing, pacing slowly,
Belching black and evil smoke.
Terror ran before it,
Fiery nostrils lifted high,
The red glow of its hatred
Flared to fill the morning sky.
No rail or chain restraining,
Free greedily to graze,
It fed amidst the forest lands
To set each tree ablaze.
It paused upon the lower slopes,
The blackened baleful stare
Swept the helpless townships
That lay beneath it, there.
Foul breath raked the grassland,
Sparks, red embers flew,
Horns of flame tossed wildly,
Fear and panic grew.
The first farms fell defenceless
But the gathering grew large,
Men and women, children,
Came to meet the maddened charge.
They came and were united,
In a common desperate cause,
The Red Steer was on the rampage
And that blind brute knew no laws.
From offices, from factories,
They emptied hotel bars,
They came in trucks, and limousines,
And battered family cars.
Confronted in the foothills,
The monster bellowed, burned,
Fighters, forced to scatter,
Re-grouped again, returned.
Faced the fury, fought it,
Tho' weary, in despair,
Courage drove them onward
Gasping, gulping, searing air.
Minds blank, tired arms kept flailing,
A bitter battle raged
Defy dark death, destruction,
The creature must be caged!
Prayers and valour answered,
The wind began to veer,
Lurid tongues licked lower,
Men raised a ragged cheer.
The foe was seen to falter,
Massive head hung low,
Red flanks heaved and trembled
As from a crippling blow.
Great legs could only stagger,
Crazed eyes ceased to glare,
The Red Steer, cowed and beaten,
Retreated to its lair.
|
|
