Welcome

Hi, my name is Alys Jackson and I'm an author and poet

based in Adelaide, South Australia.

My work has been published in books, magazines,

anthologies and online.

pelican

Fields in Flood

Fields in Flood

For weeks now the wind has been keening,

cascading its tears into creeks

sobbing small streams into torrents,

the torrents now springing small leaks.

 

Around us the rivers are rising,

wet-fisted they break sodden banks,

huddling the sheep in their paddocks,

drowning the grass round their shanks.

 

Floodwaters bury the highway

choking the freight and the fields

and pelicans thunder the sky-way,

casting their rods and their reels.

 

There are lots of tricky words in this poem. Do you know what the words mean?

Keening = crying

Cascading = pouring

Torrent = fast-flowing stream

Sodden = soaking wet

Freight = trucks carrying goods to sell

4 thoughts on “Fields in Flood

  1. Dear Alice,
    I love this poem and I also like the way you put meanings for the hard words. This poem was very exiting to read and I really enjoyed it.
    Also, for the poem what made you choose this topic?

    Kind regards
    Tirath.

    • Hi again, Tirath. I wrote this poem after visiting a farm in outback Victoria where there had been very bad flooding. The pictures were incredible. The farmer told me how the pelicans appeared from nowhere as soon as the fields flooded. Apparently the floodwaters contained huge numbers of fish. Amazing! Alys

  2. Dear Alys,

    I liked how you put difficult words in this poem and how you put the meaning for the hard words to. I liked the poem very much🙂.

    Ranulaka

    • That’s nice to know, Ranulaka. I found it quite hard to write this poem. It took me many long months. In the end, I had to rewrite the ending to make the rhymes work. Alys

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