ABPA - Australian Bush Poets Association

COPPING IT SWEET ... Maureen Clifford © The#ScribblyBarkPoet

It's the Aussie way to greet bad news with humour somewhat warped
a coping mechanism used for years,
and though not sure where it came from we all know it works
for laughter is so much better than tears.

We all tend to band together when the bad times come around
though in normal times we can be quite aloof
We may never know our neighbour's name until disaster strikes
then we're six foot tall and almost bulletproof.

Is it just meeting a challenge gives us courage? Could it be
an adrenaline rush in survival mode?
For we've long lost our herd instinct we tend to keep to ourselves
in the cities - perhaps people overload.

Now the whole world is in lockdown and in insulation phase,
with borders closed and pubs closing their doors,
the road ahead seems endless and there is no end in sight -
people spend time organizing sheds and drawers.

Still the sun will rise tomorrow and the moon will set tonight
Mother Nature seems is not a bit concerned.
She just gets on with life's living, she's a master at that art
and has turned her back on humans who her spurned.

And no doubt she'll ease the pressure when she thinks the lessons learnt,
by those humans who inhabit her sweet earth.
When we sit up and take notice. We've now time to hear her voice ...
can we once again start to value her worth?

Then perhaps she'll shut down Covid just as quick as it appeared
quell the tremors and make calm the ocean storms,
restore the rains to nourish and spread bounty 'cross the earth
as we learn to all accept our brand new norm.

And with economic downturns felt across the land word wide
we'll perhaps learn to embrace some give and take
realizing we are vulnerable without each other's help.
Bloody oath, no worries mate, then she'll be jake.

Hi Maureen

Speaking of mother earth - humans must be her worst nightmare.
My worry is that once we get over this is that we will quickly revert to what we were before - hope I'm wrong!

I enjoyed your poem Maureen especially True Blue Aussie references - she'll be right mate etc.

Cheers

Terry

Thanks Terry - glad you liked it. Thanks for reading and commenting

Interesting Maureen, I think too that the significance of the pandemic is not the illness but what comes as a result. I see you have depicted nature as a sentient being, a personality. Richard Dawkins preaches that nature ( i.e. evolution ) is simply a process that has no meaning or purpose or interest in events or organisms, it just happens. I know what I think.

Plenty of truth to think about in this Maureen, and I enjoyed the way you made it so Australian in such an unmistakable manner

Giving us more to think about, Maureen!

But am I the only one who, while not loving the cause of it, is secretly treasuring lockdown time? I'm accomplishing things that I've had on my "to do" list since retirement (2014) - and it's very satisfying!!