BENI BRIDGE
Beni Bridge on the Castlereagh
Was built to last for many a day
From Ironbark trees that were straight and strong
Then shaped to the ring of a broadaxe song
But now its planks are old and worn
Battered sagging quite forlorn
Poised above the running stream
It sometimes gladdens at the gleam
As shoals of fingerlings swim by
Beni Bridge on the Castlereagh
Remembers still the horse and dray
Has heard the lonely dingo howl
And watched the flight of the waterfowl.
Every night as darkness falls
It listens as the plover calls
In harsh alarm, as cattle feed
Amongst the tall Cumbungi Reed
That marks the river's winding course
Beni Bridge on the Castlereagh
Is a watering place where drovers stay
To rest their travelling stock awhile
Ere pushing on to the next “Ten Mile”
At night around the Drovers Camp
Lit by the flame of a hurricane lamp
Flickering shadows rise and swell
As tales are told of old Caigen Well
And Ulungras sweet spring water
A Flood will one day wash away
Beni Bridge on the Castlereagh
And send her timbers tumbling down
Past the Mill at Mendooran town
To vanish in the great outback
Like the Bullock Team and the Settlers shack
Joining the Dingo, Horse and Dray
As a legend of the Castlereagh
And of days that will dawn no more.
- © Hod Cay
