ABPA - Australian Bush Poets Association

DIGGING FOR GOLD

They form a patient line
Like mendicant monks.
Their begging bowls
are paper slips with all
the winning numbers.

Digging for gold
they buy the lucky ticket
at the lucky shop.

They don’t look hungry
and penniless, dressed
in suburban joggers, chinos
and Rockmans fashions,
but their fortune will be made
in the vagaries of the colours
of green and gold
bouncing balls.

Very clever Neville A new take on the gold digging theme and I like the analogy to mendicant monks as well. I take it you weren't the big winner and neither was I even though the dollars did go to Ipswich. Good use of the prompts - well done.

Hi Neville - Wonderful analogy of begging bowls and mendicant monks. Original and clever!

Thank you for the kind remarks Maureen, Catherine. Sorry Maureen but I'm not a gambler.

Maureen, Catherine, I found a wonderful saying from Les Murray. " Prose is.....story, discussion, significance. Poetry is....presence " I add that to my little treasury of principles.

Ditto to the ladies, Neville - love the "mendicant monks" and "begging bowls" word pictures. Also the "lucky ticket at the lucky shop" - a good use of irony.

Like you, I'm not a gambler - but I remember with amusement there was a syndicate where I worked a few years back. They contributed to a kitty and bought lotto tickets for years. Eventually due to staff changes etc, they decided to disband the syndicate and refunded everyone's surplus funds from the kitty. One guy was over the moon because he got back around $30.

"I've won on the lotto!" he exclaimed. I didn't have the heart to point out to him that it was just his own money finding its way back to him!!

Cheers
Shelley

Clever Neville
I guess we would all qualify as Mendicant Monks from time to time.
My bowl was left empty as well.

Terry

Good to hear from you Terry.