ABPA - Australian Bush Poets Association

Time Wounds All Heels

© Stephen Whiteside 08.05.2012

My grandmother used to have a lot of favourite sayings. This was one of them. I told her at the time that it sounded familiar, but I wondered if she'd got it a bit mixed up. She assured me that she hadn't though. I've been thinking about it a lot ever since, and I think this is what she was trying to say.

Feet must be sturdy. So often they're found
Labouring hard way down there on the ground,
And the toughest of tough parts of each foot, I feel
(For it carries our bodies), must be the poor heel.

The heel's made of thick skin and gristle and bone.
Half of your weight it must bear on its own,
And when you are walking it carries it all
(Though just till the other one answers the call).

Yet, strong as it is, it is not a machine.
The ravage of time robs each heel of its sheen;
A spur on the bone, or some cracks in the skin.
All that hard work will at last do it in.

Like the rest of our body, it's not made to last.
It will come to reflect on its glorious past.
Pending the coming of 'Meals on Wheels',
It lies on a stool. Oh yes, time wounds all heels!

Too right. And just get a blister on your heel and you soon find out that what we take for granted can be a big problem when it is disabled.

I notice that you put capitals at the beginning of each line. Some sticklers in the ABPA claim this is not suitable for contemporary practice. My opinion is that it is merely a matter of taste , six to one, half dozen the other.

Good one Stephen - funny where poetry inspiration can come from.

Yes, I'm with you, Neville.

Great minds eh, Marty?

Thanks Dennis, but you shouldn't believe everything you hear about my grandmother, especially if it's come from me!