NEW ENGLAND IN SUMMER

The rolling downs of New England have seldom looked more glorious

to my memory the last time it was so verdant was 1997

I can't say what the district looks like south of Armidale

I'd hazard it's as healthy .... a farmers idea of Heaven

There are so many bodies of water, ensconced in twinkling dams

I can't recall from many years travel along the New England highway

from the Warwick Plains to the Granite Belt and beyond

grasses thick and green, trap the wind and sway

And, cattle grazing, udders replete with the milk of kindness ...

of the variety that builds a nation and its people's health

It's a sweet stirring sight for anyone with an inkling 

of struggle with droughts and creating a commonwealth

The pipeline of towns that comprise the Fruit Belt

from Dalveen to Applethorpe to Wallangarra on the border

are resplendent in new clothes of painted fruit barns and wineries

attractive and beckoning to tourist and traveller

Tenterfield and Glen Innes looked invigorated on a day that was serene

(I thought for a moment that the Guyra meat works were killing and alive) 

Armidale was riotous in agapanthus, daisy, rose and dahlia

and a warm welcome from Des to end this country drive