HOMEWORK F/E 28/02/11 - The Old Timber Cutter

[william williams]

The Old Timber Cutter ©

The old bark hut shuddered and shook as the wind whistled all around.
There on the stool sat an old man pannikin of black tea in his gnarled hand,
His mind went back remembering of his past as he sat gazing around
He was proud of the log slab table, stools and the beds that were at hand.
They had stood the test of time much the same as he, but really had they.
For he was now rather unsure of himself, you know bent, a lot weaker, slower.
Time it was catching up with him though he hated to admit that anyway
Looking around the hut all his memories now came back to him slowly.
The old bark hut they built about sixty years ago when he was young
Was covered with slabs of bark from the mountain gums that they felled by axe
A timber frame by modern standards was pretty poorly hung
A ridgepole roof covered in slabs of bark stripped again by the axe
Rocks from the creek made the old fireplace, plus a chimney of tin
He along with his mate had made that hut it was dry and warm
They lived there while they cut down those giants trees that fell with a din
His mate, now gone, dead buried deep in the ground away from harm
He stood there stooped with age, his eyes dimmed as tears misted his eyes
He stumbled to the door an stepped out side to surveyed the mountains
Turning back to his sons who had helped him reach that old bark hut
Bury me here boys he said, like this old bark hut I belong in the mountains