Where have they gone

[ALANM]

Where have they gone
(By AlanM May 2021)

Cool and clear waters, a little bit salty
as I lay by the shallows with my wee little boat.
Was my Dad that had made it, it was a beauty
with it’s wee little sail, the best thing afloat.

Each day was the same, in those days before schoolin’
we lived next to the ocean and the summers were long.
I swam and I played in warm sands on the shoreline
Mum watched over me ‘till the daylight was gone.

My Dad worked in a boat yard, in those Halcyon years
he was a great fisher and a man of good will.
My beautiful Mum was so kind and so dear
‘though she’s long gone I think of her still.

In bare feet I followed my Dad ‘long the shoreline
seeking out sandworms to use for our bait.
And we’d sit on the rocks, scraping out Oysters
rinsed in salt water they went down a treat.

There was always a Bream or a Flathead for dinner
from Mum’s wee garden came the greens for the side.
A Banana in custard sometimes followed the dinner
we never went hungry, Mum would always provide.

Mum and Dad had no car, we travelled on buses
there was a long journey on a train, at one time.
But I guess those few years of Dad’s poverty wages
was the reason we left our life on the shoreline.

My Dad went back shearin’, a life to which he’d been born
we followed ‘round the sheds ‘till my schoolin’ came on.
He became like a stranger, rarely home was the norm
my wee world was shattered, my paradise gone.

No more cool salty waters, where have they gone.
My wee boat in the shallows, where has it gone.
Warm sands on the shoreline, where have they gone.
My life by the shoreline, like the tide; ebbed and gone.

[Shelley Hansen]

Lots of memories there Alan. I also remember many happy hours fishing with my dad.

[ALANM]

Thanks Shelley,
Scanning old family photos into my computer, brought back lots of memories from those days.
Alan

[r.magnay]

they get away quickly hey Alan....

[ALANM]

That they do Ross....but you never forget them.