By The Arafura Sea
When the warm tropic winds blow down from the North,
I fancy I can taste the salt sea spray,
And smell once more the sweet hibiscus bloom,
‘Neath the rustling of the palm trees as they sway,
And in another time in another place,
I'm a young man again I used to be,
When I fell in love with the Tiwi girl,
By the Arafura Sea.
Her soft dark skin was velvet to the touch,
Her eyes were black as coal,
And in those eyes I sometimes glimpsed,
The wise and ancient soul,
The moon and the stars caught in her hair,
And lit a path too infinity,
When I made love to my Tiwi girl,
By the Arafura Sea.
Too soon the money and the jobs were gone,
And as a slave to both set so did I,
Though I swore to her that one day I would return,
She knew it far beyond man's careless lies,
So sure of her world so sure of her place,
She would not go away with me,
And so I left my Tiwi girl,
By the Arafura Sea.
When the warm tropic winds blow down from the North,
To my home here in the dry dusty south,
Those old memories that those north winds bring,
Are bitter sweet ashes in my mouth,
But the bitterness is just a real regret,
The scent here somehow comforts me,
When I think of my Tiwi girl,
By the Arafura Sea.