Hooves of Thunder

They’re gathering up the young ones and keeping them close by
For they have to find the pastures on the other side
The drought has taken many lives the dams have all run dry
The raging rivers ceased to flow and this land will surely die
The mighty stallion rears up high and bids them all to follow
This hiding place that kept them safe will be lost, and gone tomorrow
The sun beat down its vicious rays the journey will take its toll
But he urges them to keep the pace their safety is his goal

The foals they seem to fall behind, their mothers they urge them on
It won’t be long before nightfall, and the sun it will be gone
The stallion gallops up ahead for water he must find
Or he will surely loose his herd he left so far behind
In the distant he can sense a danger drawing near
He has to find his herd tonight before they fill with fear
He travelled many miles across this dying land
But another stallion took his herd and a fight he did demand

He pawed the ground and beckoned the stallion to the fight
With mighty hooves and tearing flesh they fought into the night
The blood it oozed from wounds so deep but he would not give in
Until he killed the stallion that took his herd from him
As the sun was rising in the east a mighty stallion fell
The stallion killed the rogue this day and sent his soul to hell
With pain from wounds so ever deep he gathered up his herd
And hooves of thunder across the land is now all that is heard

He guided them through valleys low and over mountain ranges
He kept them safe protected well from all the hidden dangers
They reached the valley lush and green and where the rivers flow
His herd now safe he rests once more, it’s here his foals can grow
This mighty stallion saved his herd through drought and tortuous heat
He guards his herd from mountains high as they graze in pastures deep
They gallop across the land that’s known as the Aussie Land Down Under
And if you listen very close you can hear their Hooves of Thunder.

By Julie-Anne Avenell

This work may not be copied or re-used without permission of Julie-Anne Avenell.