A Lifeline In The Bush.
Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2017 5:31 pm
A LIFELINE IN THE BUSH
“The Bible says the heart is treach’rous …who can know its way?
I thought perhaps I’d manage, but love leads good men astray.
My great grandfather pioneered this arbitrary land
and fought its changing elements, but gained the upper-hand.
“My granddad and my father followed suit and ‘Upside Down’
became a showpiece, like a jewel set in a wise King’s crown.
We grew the best beef in the State, won markets overseas;
stood tall among our neighbours and employed three families.
“The Baxter men attached themselves to fine young women folk;
though in my case my choice of girl backfired like some sick joke.
No laughing matter; lives turned upside down! The irony:
the Station lived up to its name like some weird prophecy.
“I’d joined the local rugby team and, Premiers that year,
we ventured to the Gold Coast and played up something severe.
That’s where I met my Cassy … at a local cabaret,
her laugh was so infectious that she stole my heart away.
“We bonded … it seemed perfectly … and cupid played his role:
I let him steal all rationale and love was in control.
Then asked her if she’d marry me and when she said she would
I never ever dreamed that life was meant to be this good.
“My parents tried to tell me Cass would not survive this life,
the bush would surely drain her soul, the marriage end in strife.
But Cassy had me spellbound and we married just the same
and ten months later shared a son: Young Jessie was his name.
“Cass worked so hard to fit right in and tried to love the land,
but drought now dealt the district a pathetic, hopeless hand.
Three dreary years of searing heat, the sight of starving stock,
the drain on our resources came to Cass as quite a shock.
“The stress had then translated into tearful arguments
and soon she could not handle all the cruel and harsh torments.
She left with our Young Jessie in the fourth year of that drought
and settlement of our divorce then really cleaned us out.
“The place went up for auction and the sale wiped out our debt,
but nothing could erase the loss of years of Baxter sweat.
Next day Dad took his bullwhip and he rode off on his horse:
I found him near an Ironbark down by the watercourse.
“My mum and I we moved to town and I worked for the Shire.
Young Jessie turned into a son that most Dads would admire.
Mum had a stroke in June this year and lives in aged care now.
I took to drinking something fierce, but who cares anyhow.
“The memories haunt me through the night. I can’t get any sleep
and drinking doesn’t numb the pain and all I do is weep.
Please tell my Mum I’m sorry as I know I hurt her bad
and ask her to forgive me and I’ll give her love to Dad.”
The lass who had been listening to my tearful desperate plea
then interrupted causing me to listen patiently.
She spoke upon the telephone for near an hour or more
and eased the hurt engulfing me. She understood for sure.
Her reassuring reasoning helped clear my distraught mind
and every word consoled me and her voice was gentle, kind.
An ear that listened … understood… and felt my every pain.
That voice from Lifeline saved my life. It gave me hope again.
March 2005
When I heard that Telstra was considering withdrawing it’s sponsorship from Lifeline I was shocked beyond belief. There are so many forces that can cause bush folk to hit the wall and for many the telephone and Lifeline may be the only resource they have to fall back on. Surely there’s more to life than profit.
From the book Keeping the Culture.
“The Bible says the heart is treach’rous …who can know its way?
I thought perhaps I’d manage, but love leads good men astray.
My great grandfather pioneered this arbitrary land
and fought its changing elements, but gained the upper-hand.
“My granddad and my father followed suit and ‘Upside Down’
became a showpiece, like a jewel set in a wise King’s crown.
We grew the best beef in the State, won markets overseas;
stood tall among our neighbours and employed three families.
“The Baxter men attached themselves to fine young women folk;
though in my case my choice of girl backfired like some sick joke.
No laughing matter; lives turned upside down! The irony:
the Station lived up to its name like some weird prophecy.
“I’d joined the local rugby team and, Premiers that year,
we ventured to the Gold Coast and played up something severe.
That’s where I met my Cassy … at a local cabaret,
her laugh was so infectious that she stole my heart away.
“We bonded … it seemed perfectly … and cupid played his role:
I let him steal all rationale and love was in control.
Then asked her if she’d marry me and when she said she would
I never ever dreamed that life was meant to be this good.
“My parents tried to tell me Cass would not survive this life,
the bush would surely drain her soul, the marriage end in strife.
But Cassy had me spellbound and we married just the same
and ten months later shared a son: Young Jessie was his name.
“Cass worked so hard to fit right in and tried to love the land,
but drought now dealt the district a pathetic, hopeless hand.
Three dreary years of searing heat, the sight of starving stock,
the drain on our resources came to Cass as quite a shock.
“The stress had then translated into tearful arguments
and soon she could not handle all the cruel and harsh torments.
She left with our Young Jessie in the fourth year of that drought
and settlement of our divorce then really cleaned us out.
“The place went up for auction and the sale wiped out our debt,
but nothing could erase the loss of years of Baxter sweat.
Next day Dad took his bullwhip and he rode off on his horse:
I found him near an Ironbark down by the watercourse.
“My mum and I we moved to town and I worked for the Shire.
Young Jessie turned into a son that most Dads would admire.
Mum had a stroke in June this year and lives in aged care now.
I took to drinking something fierce, but who cares anyhow.
“The memories haunt me through the night. I can’t get any sleep
and drinking doesn’t numb the pain and all I do is weep.
Please tell my Mum I’m sorry as I know I hurt her bad
and ask her to forgive me and I’ll give her love to Dad.”
The lass who had been listening to my tearful desperate plea
then interrupted causing me to listen patiently.
She spoke upon the telephone for near an hour or more
and eased the hurt engulfing me. She understood for sure.
Her reassuring reasoning helped clear my distraught mind
and every word consoled me and her voice was gentle, kind.
An ear that listened … understood… and felt my every pain.
That voice from Lifeline saved my life. It gave me hope again.
March 2005
When I heard that Telstra was considering withdrawing it’s sponsorship from Lifeline I was shocked beyond belief. There are so many forces that can cause bush folk to hit the wall and for many the telephone and Lifeline may be the only resource they have to fall back on. Surely there’s more to life than profit.
From the book Keeping the Culture.