Songlines

Songlines are directions of travel used by Aboriginals where songs had to be memorized for the traveler to know the route and their destination. Hunters and gathers used them to map the land. They were natural conservationists.. These special songlines had specific ancestral stories attached to them. I was inspired to write this poem thinking of the footsteps of those who came before.

When words seem lost
I walk the songlines
of the ancients,
crossing fields of dreams
where stories forged the way.

Fisherfolk traversed these beaches
in search of sustenance.
Their pathways were sculptured
through unchartered worlds
and have now become memoirs
of those who were once here,
songs of their forefathers.

And when words
were not enough
the spirit of joy
traveled with them
into an unknown territory
before the marauders came
and took what was always theirs…

©AllysoAlly2024