We turned a corner and there he was,

towering in the air,

a gorgeous dog with enormous eyes

and wheat dust in his hair.

He didn’t bark, he didn’t move,

he gazed out from the wall,

beside his master, for all time,

the biggest dog of all.

Teacher’s note: This silo art is at Nullawil, Victoria, so named because the local indigenous word “nulla” is a killing stick, while “willock” means a galah (a variety of Australian bird). Both items appear on the medal attached to the dog’s collar.

I sat and watched the night steal in,

across the barren plain,

where a bowl of salt and water

will seize the sky again.

The fire of day lies frozen

in water still and wide,

and the lake will paint the sky

and the two will scarce divide.

Teacher’s note: Lake Tyrrell, a vast salt lake, is located near Sea Lake in northern Victoria.

I wonder who lived here;

I wonder why they went?

What fate struck these pioneers

and left their spirit spent?

They built their dreams to last,

stone by golden stone,

but now these dismal relics

lie ragged and alone.

Teacher’s note: This abandoned settlement is near Burra, South Australia.

There’s plenty here for everyone

so peck away in peace,

no need to squawk and squabble,

all fighting has to cease!

There’s lots of seed for any bird

who flies in day or night;

so use your beak to pick up food

and not to pick a fight.

Send me your ships, your schooners,

and my rocks and reefs will take them.

Send me some seven hundred,

and howling wrecks I will make them.

Give me stormy nights and surging tides,

give me captains who lack in skill,

and I will show you shipwrecks

that no other coastline will.

Teacher’s note: On a sunny day, the coast appears calm and safe. But Victoria’s treacherous, storm-tossed 130-kilometre Shipwreck Coast, from Cape Otway to Port Fairy, has claimed around 700 vessels.

Have you heard the story of Montague Shoe?

He fitted a left foot — ’twas all he could do.

But the shoe that fitted the right foot was lost,

So into the trash can poor Monty was tossed.

But there in the trash Montague found

A shoe for a right foot — ’twas perfectly sound.

They became a new pair, one black and one blue,

And that was the story of Montague Shoe.

I took off a sock

and got a shock —

my toes had all turned green.

I took off the other,

and what a bother —

there wasn’t a toe to be seen!

Whenever people pull out the plug,

The water leaves me behind.

I’m a hideous black circle

of the slimy sticky kind.

An extra yucky bath ring

is grottiness at its worst.

If you wish to avoid this problem,

have a shower first.

The octopossum lives by the sea;

no marine creature’s stranger than he!

A bushy tail with eight long arms,

and one big eye to complete his charms.

Even mighty whales avoid this beast;

they take one look and head nor’-nor’-east.

No shark swims near the octo-p.,

for fear the latter eats it for tea.

The octopossum can be gentle,

but one thing always drives him mental:

to avoid his rage and his grief,

we must save the Great Barrier Reef!

Have you seen the big green elephant?

It’s very, very large!

It hides in the big green jungle,

Which acts as camouflage.

Now if you cannot see it,

Maybe it isn’t there.

Or maybe it’s climbed a tree,

Or flown off in the air.