Junior Secondary

Amelia HOSIE, 13
Ravenswood School For Girls
GORDON NSW
Phantom of the Mountains
Far down by Kosciuszko, where menacing mountains soar
Above misty tree-clad valleys far below
Where the frosty breath of winter whips the slopes with bitter hands
And the summits sparkle bright with brilliant snow.
In this world of frozen wonders, hidden in the ghostly trees,
Striding proudly, with a brave courageous heart,
Resides a well-worn traveller, yet with spirit of a youth
Skips and prances, where the sunlight meets the dark.
A lonely silhouette, illuminated through the trees
But blink, and he will swiftly disappear,
Blending into speckled shadows, like a mesmerising shade
He vanishes into thin and frozen air
The phantom of the mountains, a legend of his time,
A story neither true nor fantasy
For no man has ever seen him, as he never leaves a print
Or a tell tale of his path through ancient trees
And on occasion, when he breaks out to the stony barren plains
Split straight apart by jagged mountains steep
His mane, a silken spread upon his velvet ivory side
Transforms into a wild gushing sweep
Like an alabaster river flowing though the frigid peaks
It crests behind him like a fearsome waterfall,
And the phantom of the mountains, with a coat of pearly white
Sprints faster than the wind through ruthless cold
And as the sun sets over mountain tops, calling in another day
And the songbirds lay to rest their cheerful songs
On a far and distant mountain rears a snowy stallion
Then, with the swelling shadows, he is gone.
Judge’s Comment
A lovely attempt at the ballad form, conjuring a beautiful image of a
ghostly brumby. I enjoyed the surprise of realising this traveller was not
human, with his truth gradually revealed.