Sitting up late one night I had a thought of war
How the whole world would be happy if it was gone forever more
I thought about a world where everyone lives in love and peace
And how we’d laugh, smile and dance with joy the day we end the war disease
We’d eliminate all fear and all humans could grow and thrive
The day we close the armies will be great to be alive
Melt down all the warships, tanks and fighter planes
Give the soldiers all jobs planting trees, fruit, growing grains
We’ll remove the border walls and no more competition
There will no longer be the need for the old Waring tradition
Because instead of fighting, everyone will lend a hand
When we end all war will be an awesome day and grand
It will happen in my lifetime and it’s going to be great
The day we all unite will be the day we celebrate
The ending of the wars, the killing and the fear
And all the weapons gone and the peace that will appear
Everyone will share their food and there will be no scarcity
The day the war machines stop will be the day humanity is free
From the fear and anxiety and loathing of each other
Look in the eyes of everyone and you’ll see your sister, brother
We’ll be happy and all smiling, forgiving with compassion
With no more separation and competition we will fashion
A world of peace and love with happiness the plan
Where everyone can celebrate, boy, girl, woman man
Now you’ve heard my story let’s begin today
Imagine all the happiness when all wars go away
You can start where you are and achieve your inner peace
Eliminate your guns and fear of other people disease
Because that is where it starts when you dehumanize
When you think of other people as less with judgement on your eyes
And you impose on others your judgement about being
And enforce it with a war, is the scenario I’m seeing
But you don’t need to be scared or bullying and so demanding
When you can be accepting, listening, caring and understanding
And approach all people as humans with love and with compassion
A world of peace without war, the whole will fashion
All people came together with love and peace their job
United all the world as One United Mob
Because war was bad for business and war a social failure
And it started with an idea that spread, one night in Australia
It started on a Friday in a land not far away and the idea spread like wildfire and they began anew that day.
He stood up in a market place and read out his idea
“Lets Unify the Whole Planet and make all borders disappear”
“Let’s eliminate all scarcity and ensure a more than a basic wage”
“Let’s have a single Global Currency for Living, commerce and trade”
“Let’s eliminate all Nations, Passports, Visas, Border Walls”
“Let’s close all the armies, navies, airforces too and have no weapons at all”
And as he planted seeds his crowd it grew and grew
until the Whole World was listening not just one or two
He said, Everyone can have free energy, renewable and then we all will thrive
“When we end all governments will be a great day to be alive”
“Do no harm and nurture all and simplify all laws”
“Support and love all people and lift up all the poor”
Have a governance of things based on compassion and doing no harm
Then all people can live in love without fear, in security, without alarm”
Let’s make all food organic, all medicine for free,
free public transport, free schools and homes and life will be easy
“All people just want love, security, happiness and compassion
To create a life of love where all can thrive and live in passion
One Friday afternoon the man stood up and said
He told them his Ideas and world wide they spread
In July 2016 I was travelling through western New South Wales when my by bus Atlantis broke a fuel line. I repaired the bus with the help of a local earthmoving business. I got on my way the next day and had a blow out ten kilometers out of town.
The desert was green from a few recent showers but the Darling River was low and I was not leaving Wilcannia until I had replaced the tyre in Broken Hill. It so happened that the Barkindji mob and some other local had organised a protest to stop traffic on the only bridge over the Darling River for half an hour, every hour, all weekend.
During my stay in Wilcannia, I met the kindest and most welcoming people in all of my travels but I also met a people struggling to hold on to their traditions and way of life because the Darling River or Barka as it’s known locally is drying up.
In Queensland and New South Wales, corruption and water theft and harvesting has stopped the flow of the mighty Darling River which once flowed all year round and is a vital source of food, culture and recreation for the Barkindji people of Wilcannia. The Barka is now not even a trickle but a series of muddy billabongs with dying fish, yabbies, turtles and andthing else that once lived there.
The Barkindji people of Wilcannia are tough and self sufficient but their community orchard and garden can’t be watered and fresh produce is prohibitively expensive due to the freight costs. Without access to freshly caught fish and fresh produce, the health of the Brakindji people is being adversely impacted. There are also important social and cultural remifications of the Barka not flowing. There are a whole generation of young people who aren’t getting to fish, swim or go camping on the river and learn culture. This also leads to depression and alcohol abuse in the community.
In 2016 vwhen I stayed in Wilcannia there was still water in the river for the town because of the weir but in January 2019 the situation is dire and the water quality is decreasing in town all allong the river to the point of being undrinkable.
This problem is not isolated to Wilcannia but ultimately affect the whole Murray Darling Basin and the ecosystem of the continent.
Why has thias happened?
Two main reasons:
1. The drought caused by 200+ years of land clearing and deforestation has lead to a vastly different and drier climate in Auastralia.
2. Mismanagemant and corruption by politicians, farmers and large corporate cotton agriculture.
The solution is simple. Restore stream flow and mass tree planting and reforestation accross the entire catchment of the Darling. This could be done by a National River and Forest Brigade and reassigning the military forces to productive and nurturing purposes instead of destructive purposes.
The management of the Murray Darling should be by a single national body and responsibility taken away from the states as the Murray-Darling crosses borders.
There are some many other steps including the covering of irrigation canals, changing from cotton to hemp farming for fibre, restoring cross land flows by removing artifical barriers. However for now, I have written the following song/poem to raise awareness of this important national issue of environmental, ecological and socio-cultural significance. Please share to bring awareness to this issue.
Our Darling is Dying
Our Darling is dying and running quite dry
The Barkindji man said, I just want to cry
I went to the Darling and all I could see
Was a dry river bed, no longer flowing free
Dead fish were floating with poison and sick
Long muddy billabong, blue green algae slick
“Our river would always flow to the sea
Even in drought she always flowed free”
“There was always abundance and plenty of feed
But now she’s exploited by corporate greed”
Dinners and deals and networks of corruption
The Darling River is dying, this is it’s destruction
National politicians take donations of greed
From cotton corporations with their GMO seed
Four hundred thousand Megalitres for just Cubbie Station
But no water or fish for the Barkindji Nation
Other farm’s water theft is also a crime
The new laws don’t stop them our Darling is dying
Cotton farms, water theft, corruption as donations
The Darling is dying because of greedy cotton stations
Out there in Wilcannia there’s no fishing for feeds
No water for veggies so the garden’s just weeds
Two dollars for an apple, a lettuce ten or more
A dry river makes us sick and keeps us all poor
Just drinking and fighting and wearing a frown
Waiting for the Darling River to flow down
There’s no fishing, or swimming or camping anymore
There’s nothing to do and life is a bore
A dead roo in the river but it didn’t drown
It died when it drank the poison river water down
It’s time that we started the Barkindji man said
If the river doesn’t flow the whole country will be dead
Free up the Darling River and bring it back to life
Or the whole ecosystem is in trouble and strife
Everything must be done and we have what it takes
To naturally refill the whole Menindee lakes
To bring back silver perch, yellow belly and cod
Our Darling, Our source of life, Rainbow serpent God
If we don’t let the water flow I will sing this song
Till the Darling River is no more a muddy billabong
Clean up the river and make it like long before
and the Darling can waltz and flow forever more
But our Darling River’s is dying and our Darling is dry
The Barkindji man said, I just want to cry
Song Copyright James Arthur Warren, Thundercloud Reparian
Sung to the tune of Music Waltzing Matilda composed by Christina McPherson 1895 all instruments played by Charles Whitmer https://youtu.be/L-jftwjDzc4
You can contact me below if you are interested in using this song.
Thundercloud Repairian AKA James Arthur Warren is the creator of the Australian Poetry Hall of Fame in Guyra in the 3rd of March 2020. He is a passionate educator, poet, artist, writer and publisher. His first book The Flea and the Dinosaur is a children’s book fully written and illustrated by Thundercloud. “Love in Nimbin” and “Lust in Nimbin” are his two volume poetry anthology Love and lust in Nimbin. as well as the soon to be released Poetry to End Prohibition 420 2020 edition.
A finalist in the 2017 Nimbin Performance poetry World Cup with “Street Poets News”
3rd in the Banjo Paterson Australian Poetry Competition with “Our Darling Barka is Dying”
Thundercloud is an environmental scientist and socio-cultural educationalist. Through his writing and the Nimbin underground “slam poetry” scene Thundercloud has established himself as a formidable revolutionary consciousness lyricist.
He is currently working on his next three children’s books which includes another a book of animal verse for kids. Thundercloud is a father of three sons whom he has always enjoyed telling stories to and lives in his magical colourful double decker bus, Atlantis.
As a passionate environmentalist Thundercloud pledges to donate 25% of all profits to revegetating creeks and rivers and connecting forest remnants with linking corridors to facilitate the safe movement of koalas and enabling species recovery after the bushfires.
“Thundercloud writes poetry that you will keep resonating with you for days”
Thundercloud: Washing away the garbage and leaving behind rainbows.
“A peaceful warrior has no need to raise his sword and he acts from compassion and has a shield of love” — Thundercloud Quotes
Thundercloud Repairian 