Shuffling in clanking chains or running free
No magic wand was waved to create our precious way of life
Our genesis was pain and misery mid terrible strife
Of clanking iron chains, the lash and a dangling noose of rope
Despite such hardships over many years, there was always hope
Dreams of a new life gathered appetite and with it came a plate
A bowl of liberty and unity that even for the hungriest did sate
With blood, sweat and tears, those before us forged a proud nation
To challenge old worlds as it reached out for tomorrow’s station
So why in this Space Age have we ignored lessons from the past?
Bending to noisy minorities groups eroding our way of life so fast
Our national spirit blurred by ignorance, mischief, greed and conceit
Canberra’s reckless spending sprees will cause poverty and bare feet
Balding Wigs of Court pampering felons and ignoring their victims
Big brother is freezing tongues and twisting truth with sly systems
Misfits wanting, yet giving naught while dawdling in life at lazy pace
Growing contempt for law of the land and no responsibilities to face
If only we could stop this mad stampede to quicksand
To recapture precious values in family castles within our land
To once more apply commons sense and sound reason
Fight that political correctness poisoning us more with each season
To insist on social discipline and justice so essential to our way of life
Never to blindly follow drums and bugles into terrible strife
No longer mute and blinkered but speaking out to keep us free
To honour those whose dreams became reality for you and me
If we seek shade and sleep under a leafless tree
What of those yet to be born in a country once free?
Never forget that our way of life is based on a fair go for all
“United we stand or divided we will fall” must always be our call
To watch our course and steer true bearings we all understand
To decide what’s first; the whim of a few or the voice of our land
Our pulse beat of life must be unity, vision and never doubt or fear
Stand tall now or bow meekly to clanking chains in coming years
George Mansford © December 2017