Welcome to Country Campfire’s growing collection of Australian bush poetry — poems that capture the humour, hardships, characters, landscapes, history and everyday stories of life in Australia.
From funny yarns and working-life stories to poems about the bush, family, history and the country we call home, this is a place to discover and preserve the words of Australian bush poets.
Many of the contemporary poems you’ll find here have been shared directly with Country Campfire by the poets themselves through our Keeping The Verse Alive project, with each poem given its own permanent home and its creator properly credited.
Every poem remains the property of its original creator and is shared by Country Campfire with permission.
Australian Bush Poetry A–Z
Browse the growing collection below. Click a poem title to read the full poem, and from there you can discover more from the poet, including recordings and video recitals where available.
Titles are arranged alphabetically, ignoring “A”, “An” and “The” at the beginning of a title.
A · B · C · D · E · F · G · H · I · J · K · L · M · N · O · P · Q · R · S · T · U · V · W · X · Y · Z
A
Are You on Channel, Mate? — By Scott Farquhar
Australia My Love — David J Delaney
B
The Bandywallop Ball — Tony Hammill
Below The Snowy River — Ben Eggleton
Bitcoin Mad — The Wannabe Bush Poet
Bluey — Peter Pentland
Box Of Wine — Geoff Bagman
The Bush — Pat Donovan-Guenot
Bush Poet’s Heaven — Tony Hammill
C
Creek Camp Memories — David J Delaney
Canine Chronicles — Ron Boughton
The Cocky and Morrie — David J Delaney
The Condamine Bell — Tony Hammill
Crooked River Station — I.G.Baylis
The Croquet Match — Peter Pentland
The Crux of the Cross — Ron Boughton
F
Fifty Aborigines — David J Delaney
Flood Party ’21 — The Wannabe Bush Poet
Friesian Heifer — Peter Pentland
Friday’s Pants on Monday — The Wannabe Bush Poet
From The Motorway of Memory — James Cayce
G
Ghost Moon Shadows — Ben Eggleton
The Ghosts of the Second Bridge (with apologies to Henry) — Ron Boughton
The Glass-Half-full Bloke — Vaughan Baker
Guzzunder Blunder — Ron Boughton
H
Harvest Time — Poeta de Cabra
Hippy Potion — Bob Pacey
I
In The Shadow of Ghosts — David J Delaney
An Improvement To The Nation — James Cayce
J
Just Let the Oil Cool — Scott Farquhar
L
Lake Boga Hotel — Jai Thoolen
Law of the Land — Neil McArthur
Lone Pine — Poeta de Cabra
The Love Poetry of Breaker Morant — Tony Hammill
Lucky Country — Poeta De Cabra
M
Male Dilemma — David J Delaney
Middleton’s Layabout — James Cayce
The Million Star Motel — Marco Gliori
My Church — James Cayce
My Home Australia — David J Delaney
N
Night Mistress — David J Delaney
Number 24 — Narelle Stoll
O
Old Bluey’s Yarn — Vaughan Baker
Old Life Dreams — David J Delaney
Old Scar — Geoff Bagman
Only Eighteen — Poeta De Cabra
P
Paradise — David J Delaney
Possession — Pat Donovan-Guenot
Potato picker AI version — Peter Pentland
R
Reflecting on Henry — Narelle Stoll
The Richness of Life — Ben Eggleton
Rise n’ Shine (What a Place to Be.) — Geoff Bagman
Ruffer’s Guts — Peter Pentland
The Rum Barrel Club — David J Delaney
S
Semper Gratus — James Cayce
600 Horses an still whinging bout cold feet — Scott Farquhar
Snowy Mountain Blood — David J Delaney
T
Taste for Religion — Peter Pentland
This New Technological Stuff — Ben Eggleton
Time no longer Rules — David J Delaney
A Tragic Tale (Tail?) of Two Dogs — Peter Pentland
True Blue Colours — James Cayce
Two Kinds of Cops — Vaughan Baker
V
Vulgar Bill’s Spiced Pickle — James Cayce
W
Walers — Tony Hammill
The War at Home — David J Delaney
Wasn’t Scared, Just in a Hurry — Scott Farquhar
Why Am I Even Here? (Thanks Milton Bradley) — Geoff Bagman
Why I Live where I Live (for Macca) — David J Delaney
Y
You Can Cry — Ben Eggleton
Meet The Poets
Behind every poem is a person and a story.
Country Campfire’s Contributing Legends pages bring together the poetry, recordings, stories, interviews and other contributions of the people helping keep Australian country culture alive.
🔥 Meet the Country Campfire Legends →
Listen To Australian Bush Poetry
Prefer to hear the poems around the campfire?
The Country Campfire Bush Poetry Podcast features Australian bush poetry recited by the poets themselves, alongside classic Australian verse and recordings from the Country Campfire archive.
Many individual poem pages also include podcast recordings and video recitals where they’re available, so you can read the words and hear them performed.
Got A Bush Poem Of Your Own?
We’re always interested in hearing from Australian bush poets — whether you’ve been writing for decades or you’ve only ever written one poem.
Old poems, new poems, funny yarns, serious pieces and verses sitting forgotten in notebooks or computer folders are all welcome.
Your work remains your work. Country Campfire simply provides another place where it can be preserved, shared and discovered.
If you’ve got something you’d like to share, we’d love to hear from you.
🔥 Share Your Poetry With Country Campfire →
Country Campfire is Australia’s Digital Campfire — preserving and sharing the poems, stories, people and traditions that make Australian country life what it is.
Poems, recitals, photographs, stories and original works remain the property of their original creator and are shared by Country Campfire with permission.