Lines from Oz
The Poetry of Brian Langley
The idea for this poem had lingered in my head
for several years from when I first saw,
and was moved by,
the epitaph on a plaque set into the rocks at Quobba,
I finally wrote it after re-visiting the area
several years later.
A thousand miles to catch a dream
Was in the southern winter months
the young man came to fish
the rugged shores near Quobba Point.
It had always been his wish
to cast a line into the sea.
To him, it didn't seem
a long long way to come from home,
To maybe catch a dream.
There's more big fish at Quobba
than anywhere, it's said.
A thousand miles is not too far.
When dreams are in your head.
A thousand miles to catch a dream,
while a thousand miles away
his family, they could picture him
fulfilling dreams that day.
He stood upon the jagged rocks
ten feet above the waves,
and heard them sigh as each one passed
into the limestone caves
that nature, in ten thousand years
had worn beneath his feet.
The young man gazed into the sea,
his dreams not yet complete.
He cast his bait into the waves,
with hope that he might feel
the ecstasy a strike will bring
as line screams from his reel.
A bite. He jerks. The hook is set.
He makes a silent wish.
That dreams becomes reality
and he can catch this fish.
He reels in line to keep it taut,
walks closer to the edge.
No way that he will let this fish
get snagged upon a ledge.
Then from the sea, a mighty wave,
from nowhere so it seems.
A wave that changes destiny.
A wave that shatters dreams.
For when the wave had passed away
and all its fury spent.
The young mans friends could only stare
and wonder where he went.
For all that there was there to see
was a rainbow in the spray.
And the ocean sighing gently
with each wave that crossed the bay
His friends and family later came
to say their last goodbye
and ponder on the mystery
of why he had to die.
For it seems that young men do not heed
the warnings that they see.
They never pause to ponder on
their own mortality.
For as you come to Quobba,
there's a sign that's three feet high.
A sign that tells you "King Waves Kill."
It stares you in the eye.
But signs and warnings go unseen
by many in this place.
They've come for dreams of giant fish.
They've gone without a trace.
For the ocean, here at Quobba
quite often hides its dead.
They're buried in the caves beneath
the rocks on which we tread.
••••••••••••••••
They set a plaque into the rocks,
a plaque that gives his name.
A plaque that tells the story,
the reason that he came.
A Thousand miles to catch a dream.
It's there for all to see.
Set in bronze, upon the rocks
A place in history.
A Thousand miles to catch a dream.
While a thousand miles away
his family they cannot forget
that fateful winter's day
© Brian Langley 18th May 2000