ABPA - Australian Bush Poets Association

A GOOD DEED


He slogged along through the dust and flies
down the narrow outback track.
Every worldly thing that he possessed
was in the swag upon his back.

The summer sun so unrelenting
beat down upon his weathered hat.
The dust gathered thick upon his face
a thousand flies on his back sat.

The squatter in his buggy
on his way back home from church
took pity on the swaggie
as through the dust he watched him lurch.

The sermon had been on friendship
doing good deeds had been the call.
Offering the hand of friendship
to friends and strangers one and all.

"Come on old man" he offered
"hop up here we'll soon be mates"
'Bugger off' came back the sharp retort
"Open your own bloody gates".

Bob Pacey ( C )

You always have another angle Bobbo!

Laughing.

Heather

I thought everyone thought Like me ????

I'm a N. A. T. P.

New Age Tender Poet.

Ps Just got my Myers Voucher Does that make me a pro now ?

Bob

Gee I laughed when I read this Bob - so good - as the official gate opener for many years through wind, rain, sleet and mud I so relate to this. Then there were the gates that wouldn't swing, the ones that you had to lift and drag, and push, the barbed ones that fell in a crumpled heap around your feet when you pulled the pin - hated those -cockies gates .

A cocky gate is essentially a section of fence hung between two wrist-thick, strong poles and hinged at one end to a gatepost. The other end can be opened and closed by any number of mechanisms depending on the ingenuity of the farmer. The bottom of the pole on the opening end of the gate is fitted into a loop of wire at the base of the gatepost, and the top of the pole fits into a wire looped around the top of the gatepost. If the 'gate' is made of separate plain wires there are usually two intermediate poles to hold the gate wires in place.

The gate is opened by being unhooked and dragged out of the way. To stretch the gate tight, the bottom of the gate post is levered into the bottom loop attached to the fence stay and the top of the post is forced towards the stay until the top wire loop can be dropped over it.

Cocky gates were made from the same materials as the fence, so they could be made on the spot without having to buy special materials or fittings. If the fence posts were of locally cut timber, so were the gates poles. More recently, fences made with iron star pickets used the same pickets for gate poles.

They got me every time.

I know what you mean Maureen and you really get to appreciate grids after a while.

Bob