Black Cockatoos

Rise then,
you screaming flight of black cockatoos,
and spread your red-barred tail feathers out
and scream
over the spears of the reeds
and the purple lilies,
over the red rock walls
of this sun-gashed gorge.
And gather in broken and screaming flight,
and turn heading far up
this jade-green river’s reaches.
So shall I find me
harsh and blendless words,
of barbarous beauty enough,
to sing this land.

(Roland E. Robinson in Pollard 1967)