Poem by Andrew Barton Paterson

High Explosive

’Twas the dingo pup to his dam that said, 
”It’s time I worked for my daily bread. 
Out in the world I intend to go, 
And you’d be surprised at the things I know. 

”There’s a wild duck’s nest in a sheltered spot, 
And I’ll go right down and I’ll eat the lot.” 
But when he got to his destined prey 
He found that the ducks had flown away. 

But an egg was left that would quench his thirst, 
So he bit the egg and it straightway burst. 
It burst with a bang, and he turned and fled, 
For he thought that the egg had shot him dead. 

”Oh, mother,” he said, ”let us clear right out 
Or we’ll lose our lives with the bombs about; 
And it’s lucky I am that I’m not blown up - 
It’s a very hard life,” said the dingo pup.

1. A Grain of Desert Sand
2. That Half-Crown Sweep
3. Under the Shadow of Kiley’s Hill
4. White Cockatoos
5. The Two Devines

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