Highways and Byways: The Noisy Outback

By Maik Strosahl

I love sounds. Yes, in music, nature but especially in poetry. I used to experiment a lot with onomatopoeia, but have not for a long time.
    I was reading a piece by Vic Midyett detailing an event that took place while he lived in Australia. Our leader put the article under the heading “Thunder Down Under,” a series that I as a newer member was not familiar with. I took a quick look through the archive articles and came across a painting of a Kookaburra done by Vic’s wife Shirley Deane/Midyett.

[16" x 12"]

    Now, the Kookaburra name is an onomatopoeia word, one made from the sound it is associated with. The word is borrowed from the Wiradjuri language, where it is spelled Guuguubarra. Either way, it is a very noisy cackle from the outback that some could find annoying and some enjoy as one of the unique sounds of the Australian Outback.
    I love sounds. Here’s hoping you will too after you experience “The Noisy Outback.”

The Noisy Outback

Guuguubarra,
Guuguubarra,
Wiradjuri chased your laughter
across the Eucalypt forest,
a cackle
hysterically announcing your claim,
a raucous joke from tree to tree,
while they soothed their young,
placed them in their beds.

Guuguubarra,
Kookaburra,
guarding the dreamers
from all that slithers Oceania,
even the European settlers
who hunted the aborigine
to the brink of extinction.

Kookaburra,
Guuguubarra,
Wiradjuri embrace your laughter,
squawking
endlessly at trespassers
that this bush is claimed,
these trees are our home and
snakes will be eaten in Wagga Wagga
while the Wiradjuri sleep
in the peace of their noise.

Copyright © 2021 by Maik Strosahl Michael E. Strosahl has focused on poetry for over twenty years, during which time he served a term as President of the Poetry Society of Indiana. He relocated to Jefferson City, Missouri, in 2018 and currently co-hosts a writers group there.