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ARE WE THERE YET?

Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2019 12:34 pm
by Jeff Thorpe
ARE WE THERE YET?

© Jeff Thorpe 05 October 2019

Four words any road tripping parent would know well,
“Are we there yet”, firstly ten minutes after leaving home,
boredom setting in, near impossible to quell,
little interest in the journey, sheathed in a catacomb.

As a Master of Ceremonies in countless games of “I Spy”
no pesky kid can outdo my knowledge of the game,
with an X in the rego I can play real sly
and shoot em down in flames when I take aim.

Parents of my generation were definitely deprived,
with no hi-tech doo dads to keep the sprogs engaged,
today smart phones and I Pads keep them busy till they’ve arrived
especially for those passengers who’re teen aged.

Yes, back in ’77, two excursions completed,
ten weeks on the road with daughters aged five, two and one,
first four in NZ, short distances, mum and dad undefeated
then in Oz, return to Adelaide in a Kombi, not a lot of fun.

At times in that trip t’was not the youngsters requesting
“are we there yet”, but their parents hoisting the white flag
let’s just say it’s a long way to Adelaide, in fact quite contesting,
have you ever without flying experienced jet lag.

Fast forward, 2015, picture the Indian Pacific train,
four thousand three fifty-two K, Sydney to Perth,
“were we there yet” well, no, our journey was in vain,
derailment ahead of us handed Perth a wide berth.

2017 on the Crown Princess, sailing Southampton to New York,
three thousand odd passengers, many coming down with flu,
“are we there yet”, the oft repeated conversation talk,
a cruise lots couldn’t wait to bid adieu.

So, don’t just think only small fry wonder about distance,
all travellers ponder the subject along the way,
for some it involves the core of their existence,
Burke and Wills for instance, must have asked the question every day.

Re: ARE WE THERE YET?

Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2019 10:29 pm
by Shelley Hansen
I'm sure you are right about Burke and Wills, Jeff! No doubt many other intrepid explorers too. Ludwig Leichhardt comes to mind ... I am always filled with admiration for these intrepid souls who opened up the tracks across our land, followed of course by equally intrepid settlers.

Re: ARE WE THERE YET?

Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2019 5:34 pm
by Jeff Thorpe
Thanks for your comments Shelley. I've shown this poem to a number of people and many have commented about the last line. Leichhardt did come to mind also when I was writing it.

Regards, Jeff