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~~~ A Man on The Tramp ~~~
It seems like only yesterday, that I came upon his camp,
A lonely man, a down and out, a poor man on the tramp.
His camp was just a sheet of tin, against a hollow log,
And his companion was a mongrel cur, an old blue Queensland dog.
He was sittin' there, with pipe in mouth, blowin' smoke rings in the air,
He asked me if I'd like a brew, and to, sit-down if I cared.
"I've only got two pannikin's, one's mine, and the t'others his,"
He grinned, and pointed to his old blue dog, "He'll share it, so he se's."
"I have one here," I answered back, "The dog can keep his own,
But tell me friend, how come you're here, so far away from home?
Ya' camped out here besides this log and you've nothin' much at all,
So tell me why a bloke like you, has had a mighty fall?"
He sat and took a big long pull upon his smoked filled pipe,
And he said to me, "I'll tell ya' why I left me kids and wife."
I had me-self a bonzer job, kids, and a wife that was so true,
But I lost me job and took to grog, there was nothin' I could do."
"Me missus she got sick of me and put me on the street,
Without me clothes or money, so's there was nothin' I could eat.
But I pulled me-self together and cleaned up all me act,
And I got a job in Real Estate, so I looked on goin' back."
"So I headed back to home sweet home, but things had changed ya' see,
'Cos when she seen me she yelled out, Don't come here and bother me.
And this great big bloke he hit me and near broke me bloomin' nose,
And I know when I'm not wanted, so I had no where to goes."
"So I come out here and this dog turned up, he's me only flamin' mate,
And he never moans or does his block, 'Cept when his dinners late.
But its' really bloomin' hard sometimes, hard to make ends meet,
And it's flamin' hard to get to town, 'cos, I'm not good on me feet."
"I'm just like a bit of flotsam, upon the sea of life,
I've lost me kids, I've lost me home and I've lost me bloomin' wife.
But my journey's nearly ended, from this life of pain I always bore,
'Cos I'm going back to where I came from, and I'll not be lost no more."
He said ,"Ya' know, we came from here," He pointed to the earth,
We live our lives the best we can, no matter what it's worth.
A rich man or a poor man, a beggar or a thief,
We'll all end up, back in the earth, that, is my belief."
"But no matter where in life you go, you'll always find one friend,
Who'll stick by you, through thick and thin, until the bitter end.
And the friend I found is this here dog, he was lost, he's just like me,
We've been together a long, long time, and friends we'll always be."
"A woman's never satisfied, and kids just ask for more,
And if ya' don't, give into them, they show ya' to the door.
And when ya' down and flamin' out, and ya' sick and feel unwell,
They just toss ya' out into the street, and say to go to hell."
"So here I am, I have me camp, out here in this here scrub,
And twice a month on Thursdays, we head into the pub.
To buy tobacca' and some stores, and a bone here for me mate,
And we come back here, and have a feast, and we share the same old plate."
"These are all my worldly goods ya' see, I have nothing else to show,
And I'm livin' here with just me friend, we've nowhere else to go.
So I'll wait until I get my call, from the master of this land,
And I'll follow him to paradise, with me mate right at me hand."
I drunk me tea and said goodbye, and headed on me way,
And I thought about that bloke and dog and the words he had to say.
We are the same, we're just like him, we're all waiting for our call,
And will there be, a paradise, or is the nothing there at all?
May 3, 2000
~~ 331 ~~
~~~ Graveyard of the Past ~~~
I sometimes go to places that, I know not where I am,
There's a graveyard out near nowhere that not to many know,
There is only cast iron crosses, to mark each of those graves,
Nobody knows just who they were or where they lived their lives,
There's not a town or city, nor a homestead near that spot,
And it makes me sort of wonder and I suppose you'd wonder too,
June 1, 2000
~~ 332 ~~
~~~ Green Eyes in the Night ~~~
The Diemals road in years gone by, was just a beaten track,
I had camped there one September, early in the spring,
We yarned about what most blokes do, when they're on their own.
His station carried cattle and it was calfin' time right now,
I tried to trap it old Jack said, but that cat it was too quick,
"It's black as night that evil cat, with eyes as green as sin,
So we got to work to make a trap to snare that killer cat,
Cats they kill most times for fun, they do it just for sport,
We lit a roaring fire, then we ate and had a brew,
He grabbed his ancient 303 and I grabbed me torch and 44,
We heard it growl then scream again as it turned and disappeared,
We went and had look to see, why our trap had failed to spring,
I stayed with Jack for several weeks to try and track that feline down,
So, I headed off just at dusk, for the big smoke once again,
June 2, 2000
~~ 338 ~~
~~~ Fettlin' ~~~
I'd gone back to The Alice to visit with me long lost past,
And all the streets are different now; they bypass half the town,
I told him it was early, a bit too, on the early side,
I worked, on the line from Alice, south to where it hits the Finke,
The sun it would buckle 'em, and then bend 'em, with its flamin' heat,
We'd replace the burnt out bridges after a fire come racin' through,
'Cos if it wasn't for us fettler's the Ghan would be in strife,
It was, best to mind ya' business and keep out of the fettler's way,
And you'd never touch a fettler's kit or any of his gear,
June 28, 2000
~~ 339 ~~
~~~ Bones From Long Ago ~~~
I was in the western desert country, loamin', on a river course
It was a rotting plastic bag, the type, they use for samplin' stone,
The writing it was faded, I couldn't read a single word
And sticking out the yellow sand was the bones of some one's hand,
The wind had blow away the sand that held the secret of those bones,
If the wind has blown the sand away then the water will come next,
June 29, 2000
~~ 340 ~~
~~~ If I Were An Irishman ~~~
If I was an Irishman, Oh! What Irish songs I'd sing.
We sing about our jumbucks and humpin' bluies on our backs,
We sing about that crazy bloke who, rode horses down steep hills,
And when those black days of the bush fires that raged through our scrub,
And those stories that you hear about, when there was war 'an strife,
And when a mate was wounded and he thought his life was run,
That's how it was in yesterday, in days of, not so long ago,
What of Aussie mateship has it flown out the door,
July 4, 2000
~~ 357 ~~
~~~ Hats ~~~
My father's hat still sits there,
I remember when dad wore it,
He'd take me by my little hand,
"And never wear your hat inside,
It's been so many years now,
And as the years rolled quickly by,
August 8, 2000
~~ 363 ~~
~~~ Our First and Only Kiss ~~~
My memories they go rolling back, to many years gone bye,
I met a girl, so long ago, by golly she was great,
Those days we sat upon that train upon that concrete track,
And then we parted, lost our ways, apart we'd always be,
And when I think about those days, those days of long ago,
August 27, 2000
~~ 399 ~~
~~~ Melancholy Moments ~~~
Melancholy moments, of days of yesteryear
October 18, 2000
I've seen the sights of many things, not seen, by another man.
And I've travelled far and further out to nowhere and no place,
So I'll share with you a lonely spot, where man has left a trace.
Where the bones of all the people are, who died so long ago.
It's hidden in the timber, shaded by the scrub and trees,
And if you didn't, know it was there, you'd not see it easily.
Not a gravestone or a markings, to show those bones inside their caves.
But I'd chanced upon that graveyard that showed some history of the past,
It was the only sign that some, had laid their heads in rest at last.
We only know that here is the place, they rested when they died.
Not a date nor broken headstone, or the rusted railings of a fence
Or a line of stones to mark the place, just grasses think and dense.
Or rusting tins or broken glass or wood that's dried with rot.
And there's just one track that leads here, from where I do not know,
But this is where they bought their dead, when it was their time to go.
Why those folks were stuck out here and what ever did they do?
But, there is this eerie silence, as I sit around those graves of old,
That leaves a man with goose bumps, and leaves him feeling cold.
And the homestead really wasn't much, just a tumbled, humpy shack.
The cattle yards were gimlet, and a bit of old jam scrub,
And the water troughs, were bent up tin, and a rusted out bathtub.
It was wonderful to boil a brew, and to hear the fledglings sing.
And old Jack who owner the station, stated, with a bit of mirth,
That the station, was God's creation, a precious piece of earth.
The price of gold, the government, and the cost to use a phone.
Then Jack he said quite sober, "Do ya' know about big cats?"
And he pointed to a poddy calf, "It 'twas near as big as that."
And he said he'd seen a big black cat, pullin' down a cow.
And it only ate the unborn calf, it didn't touch no other part,
The poor old cow just bled to death with fear in its heart.
All I got was a bit of fur and a lump of flamin' stick.
Each night I hear it scream and growl when everything is still,
And, no matter how hot I stoke me fire, I still can feel a chill.
"So can ya' help me out," he said, with a half way sort of grin.
We finished off our cuppa and Jack touched me on the knee,
"If it wasn't for the cattle here, It'd probably, eat up you and me."
With a piece of beef chained to a tree and a trail of rendered fat.
And we placed a lump of blasting mat in the tree above that beef,
So when the cat pulled on that chain the mat would bring it grief.
With a bit of luck I said to Jack we'll cut this cats life short.
The sun had started setting as we retreated to that shack,
But I somehow wished that I was, a long way down the track.
And we settled back to wait and see, what that cat would do.
We both had nodded off to sleep when this scream it filled the air,
I jumped up and looked at Jack as he mumbled out a prayer.
I grabbed me boots and grabbed me hat and headed for the door.
We headed off towards that tree that we hoped had caught that cat,
Then my torch-light picked up two green eyes, that looked bigger than my hat.
I looked at Jack when he said to me, "Let's get out'a flamin' here!"
We headed back towards the shack as fast as we could run,
And we stayed inside that humpy shack, until we saw the morning sun.
That's when we found that blasting mat, all shredded like bits of string,
The beef was gone, the rendered fat there was nothing left at hand,
And the chain was snapped from round that tree like a rotted rubber band.
But we never heard a scream or growl from sunrise to sundown.
And all the traps we'd set weren't sprung, of that cat there were sign,
So I said to Jack goodbye for now, 'cos everything looked fine.
And as I drove I thought about, that scream etched in my brain.
Then I felt a bump then heard a hiss, as a tyre ran out of air,
And not far off into the night two green eyes began to stare.
There, I met my friend the hot north wind and its fiery blast.
But all those things that were my past, had left there years ago,
Just the wind, had stayed behind, with its burning breath to blow.
Todd Street now is void of cars, it's full of seats, for sittin' down.
So I found me-self a shady place to have a rest and think,
When an old bloke sat down next to me and offered me a drink.
Then a smile, come to his lips as he said to me with pride.
"Have you ever been out fettlin' in the desert just like me,
'Cos fettlin' been a way of life in the Northern Territory.
And fettlin' weren't no easy job, but, ya' didn't have to think.
Just be strong of back with little brain, was the main require-ment,
To straighten out those railway lines when the sun it made 'em bent.
And that railway line would get so hot, you could fry a lump of meat.
The heat and flies and scorpions and our legless scalely friends,
Would scare ya' nearly half to death, and drive ya' round the bend.
And fixin' rails that got washed away was nothin' really new.
Then we'd replace those damaged sleepers in the blink of someone's eye,
And watch with pride and pleasure, as the Ghan went rollin' by.
So, it had to trust us fettler blokes with its flamin' life.'
But, there ain't no fettler's any more those days have gone for sure,
When the fettler's in the fettler's camp lived by the fettler's law.
And never get conned into playin', cards for a fettler's pay.
'Cos, if you played and lost at cards you'd better pay up quick,
Or you'd very well and probably would end up pretty sick.
Or you'd end up with ya' bloomin throat, cut from ear to ear."
He winked at me and smiled, then drank his bottle to its last,
Then he got up, and disappeared to, somewhere in my past.
When I came across some bones stuck in that creek.
I weren't to sure as what they were, until I dug 'em up
It was a dog with a bag stuck firmly in its beak.
With a bit of paper stuck inside all browned and ripped and torn.
That paper it was really old it was frayed on every fold
And it looked like it was written on, before that I was born.
So's I kept it for a keep-sake of my trip
Then further up that creek I found a curled up boot,
That was worn out where the sole had lost its grip.
With a photograph held firmly in its grasp
That photo was a girl, with long tresses in her hair
It was a picture of somebody from the past.
And exposed the simple solitude, of a man that died alone.
Did he die from sandy-blight or the horrors of death by thirst,
Or did he die from pains of old and his heart just simply burst.
To wash his bones on further, on an endless treck.
So I dug a grave the best I could, high upon a crest,
And took those bones of man and dog and laid then both to rest.
The wild Irish roses, and the shamrocks, and those other Irish things.
But, I'm just a true blue Aussie, and a Aussie song is hard to folla',
'Specially when you're had a few and ya' sorta', kinda' holla'.
And how far away the black stump is, on our endless tracks.
We sing about our billabongs, and kangaroos and stuff,
And we sing about how crook things was, when we had to live it rough.
And how much grog we used to drink, then, act like a mob of dills.
But when it come to standin' by, ya' mates and all ya' friends,
An Aussie mate! It was him for sure; he'd do it to the end.
Burnt down all their sheds and houses, sacred buildings and their pub.
The people came from everywhere to squelch that un-relenting flame,
Then helped those ones who lost it all, rebuild their lives again.
And how we'd stick together, to protect our neighbours wife.
And how we helped the pommies out, the yanks and all their mob,
We didn't moan or cause a blue; we'd just get on with that job.
He'd tell his mates to bugger off while, he'd protect 'em with his gun.
But you'd never leave him layin' there, you'd just hoist him on ya' back,
And you'd tell that he'd be ok, and to be proud, to be an old Anzac.
When people helped each other out, without bungin' on a show.
But, most of the ones that live today are fed by hate and greed,
And they try and stop the underdog from tryin' to succeed.
To bring it back, must we start another bloody war?
Must we destroy the ones we love before we find a way?
Of bringing back compassion, and mateship for a day.
Where he left it years ago.
And it gathers dust and cobwebs,
Because, it has nowhere to go.
Come hail, rain or shine.
And how I really got excited,
When he bought me mine.
And, as we walked he always said,
"Be sure that when you meet a lady
To lift your hat from off your head."
Or, when your mother she's around,
And if you, remember all these words,
Your life will turn out sound."
Since I was that little boy,
And, I still have got that battered hat,
That was my pride and joy.
I've brought so many hats you see.
But there is no other hat to match that hat,
My father bought for me.
And when I think about the past, it brings tears to my eyes.
To think of all those things I did, when I was young and free,
Those memories kept within my heart, they will forever be.
I had it in me mind and heart, she'd make a bonzer mate.
But, by gees that is so long ago, I bet, she's, far away,
And I'd like to meet her once again, to remember those lost days.
That train was goin' no-where then, and was never comin' back.
That was when, we had that kiss, our first and only kiss,
It stirred my heart, my mind and soul, it was just perfect bliss,
But that kiss, that kiss we had, had set us always free.
That freedom as we took our ways, was the freedom of our souls,
And, within our hearts we always knew, the answers to our goals.
My memories take me back to where, my mind it should not go.
And what was lost within my mind, my memories of the past,
Those days of old, those yesterdays, those days that did not last.
They fill me full of hopelessness and fill me full of fear.
They take me back to times before, which now have long gone by.
To remind me of sad memories and of tears I used to cry.
The pains of my first lover, that kiss that took my heart,
With promises to hold our love, until death does us part.
We faced our future unafraid, our lives so full of hope,
And when our world it fell apart, somehow we could not cope.
That love you had just disappeared, I had to set you free,
When you told me that your heart, was no longer meant for me.
You took my heart and crushed it, with pain right to my core,
You'd made it so, I'd never trust, or love forever more.
I left that place, our sanctuary we'd built on shifting sands,
To face the world with nothing more, than shaking empty hands.