Captains Flat : Just Verse, A Collection of Poems

CAPTAINS FLAT

Rimmed by tranquil mountains
In the state of New South Wales
Is a small historic village
Blessed with legendary tales

But of all the tales this town can tell
The one that I love best
Is the story of a bullock
That now has gone to rest

The town is nestled in a valley
In a calm and peaceful spot
And this small and restful village
Is a village time forgot

When I claim that time forgot it
I mean that in the nicest way
For it lacks the hustle-bustle
That spoils the world today

I have visited this village
Since the days when I was small
And in the ways that really matter
It hasn't changed at all

There's no congested traffic
Where tempers rage and seethe
And unlike the smog-filled cities
The air is fit to breathe

Everyone can view the sunrise
When a new day has begun
For there are no towering buildings
To block the morning sun

You could call these people red-necks
And I'm sure they wouldn't care
Because they feel the biggest losers
Are the ones who don't live there

Though many travel to the city
To earn their daily bread
They have forsaken city living
For the country life instead

They have that rare bucolic manner
People smile and say "G'day"
And they'll stop and chat a moment
In that friendly country way

It was a mining town in early times
But now that time has passed
The mines closed many years ago
The minerals didn't last

In the town's surrounding bushland
Wildflowers in legion bloom
And the sight and sounds of wildlife
Quickly banish thoughts of gloom

It has varied forms of birdlife
In the trees and on the wing
And you'll marvel at their beauty
And the wondrous songs they sing

Platypus play in the river
And you'll see the kangaroo
And there's rabbits and echidnas
And 'old man' wombat, too

But a giant, white, teamster's bullock
Has the greatest claim to fame
It was due to his free spirit
That the town now bears his name

He would sneak away so silently
When there was work to do
And he'd graze along the river flats
Where fresh, green grasses grew

You could find him through the seasons
Summer, autumn, winter, spring
Enjoying all the many pleasures
That a simple life can bring

He commandeered those river flats
And claimed them as his own
He wore a look of majesty
Those fields became his throne

This giant bull's name was Captain
And the drovers passing by
Would see him grazing happily
With contentment in his eye

They knew that he played truant
When there was work in store
But his disdain for a working life
Just made them love him more

They envied his demeanour
His insistence to be free
And his quiet determination
To maintain his liberty

He represented something
Many humans seek in life
A carefree, quiet existence
Completely free of stress and strife

In harmony with nature
His cares were all dispersed
Green fields to banish hunger
And a stream to quench his thirst

He reinforced the message
If our demands in life are small
A life of sweet contentment
Is within the reach of all

So in the early eighteen hundreds
Without a house in sight
Captain made those flats his own domain
He claimed them as his right

As the drovers passed the homesteads
They'd sometimes stop to chat
And when they discussed that area
They referred to Captain's flat

For many years he reigned supreme
It was known both far and wide
Of how he loved those grassy flats
On Molonglo river's side

The years rolled on relentlessly
And he succumbed to age
But his name is boldly written
On the township's History page

They found him near the river
On the flat that he loved best
He had gone to meet his maker
He had found eternal rest

And when early settlers gathered
And commenced to build their homes
They built them on the river flats
Where Captain's spirit roams

And in honour of this great, white bull
So his memory would not dim
Those sentimental settlers
Named their township after him

And if there is a life hereafter
As most religions teach
Then I pray the view of Captains Flat
Is still within his reach

And I like to think that Captain
Scans the land he used to own
And he nods in quiet approval
At the township that has grown

The apostrophe of ownership
Is no longer there to find
But Captain knows he owns it
So I guess he wouldn't mind

And I imagine that he's looking down
From rich, green fields above
And gazes with contentment
On this land that won his love

And he looks down on this village
As the friendly people chat
And he smiles with satisfaction
On his town named "Captains Flat"

K.D. Abbott © 2007

NOTES:
The river flats where Captain roamed were approx.
twelve kilometres from his owner's homestead.
(About seven and a half miles)

The population figure stated in the 2001 census
was 430, and in 2006, 446.

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