The Fever

Linea Jantz

Round every little clump of scrub in the hills, you may see a collection of faecal deposits, and the drainage from this is collected by residents lower down. The prevalence of fever and the disastrous results to the community were not sufficient to deter people from drinking this unappetising beverage.

Commonwealth of Australia Department of Health Service Publication, 1895

I find the prospectors

Lying listless beside what once was water

Their eyes burn with hunger for the shiny metal

All they find are tectonic plates

An empty meal of temptation

Laid bare, baked clay

I dig a swollen frog from the red earth

Bid them squeeze

Drink

Many a day they have pressed their noses to the windows of success

Watched their work settle another man’s family at a table overflowing

They are no strangers to hard labor

Here they dream a harvest of their own

Riches dredged from russet earth

A golden future gleaming in their calloused palms

They roam the land on fetid camels and creaking bicycles

Dig dig digging down

Huddle nights in camps smelling of livestock slaughter and shit

Until they find a bright rock

Fall upon themselves ecstatic

For a night, eat lobster instead of tinned dog

Maybe lose it all on “two up”

Game a gamble like coming here in the first place

Nurses tend to men who shout to the hidden stars, delirious

Die without a name for their gravestone

Or one to send a letter

I watch the fever mow them down

Begging for the water they and theirs made brown

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This piece was created with consideration to the following sources:

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Linea Jantz has worked in a wide range of roles over the years including waste management, medical records, paralegal, and teacher. She is wildly interested in reading about history, nature, and the human capacity for endurance and compassion. Her writing is featured or forthcoming in publications including Pamplemousse, The Dyrt Magazine, The Spokesman Review, Singletracks, HamLit Journal, and NonBinary Review. Her poetry was featured in the ARS POETICA juried art exhibit at Blowing Rock Art History Museum and has received a nomination for Best of the Net.