ABPA — The Australian Bush Poets Association Inc.

The Famous Left-Hand Shop

© David Judge

Winner, 2026 Corryong Larrikin Award and Victorian Bush Poetry Championship, MFSR Festival, Corryong, Victoria.

I was strolling through a shopping mall to beat the summer heat
and to find a place to sit awhile to rest my aching feet.
There were many retail outlets selling sundry merchandise
with a range of brands and sizes and a guaranteed best price.
I decided on a coffee and I found a place to stop,
which is when I saw a sign that read, The Famous Left-Hand Shop.

I was curious to have a look and went inside to see
what they had for sale for people who were Lefties just like me.
And the first row that I went to was for builders and their trades
with a box of left-hand screwdrivers and heaps of left-hand spades.
There were left-hand hammers hanging near the left-hand tapes and saws
underneath the left-hand ladders and a stack of left-hand doors.

As I wandered down the next row where they had some kitchenware,
I could see some left-hand saucepans stacked beside a left-hand chair.
And to make things even easier for Lefties and their mates,
they had left-hand mugs and glasses piled alongside left-hand plates.
They had left-hand bottle openers that also took out corks,
but by far the handiest of all were left-hand knives and forks.

In a row for left-hand sporting gear I found some left-hand bats
with displays of left-hand cricket balls and coloured left-hand hats.
There were many left-hand tennis racquets strung with left-hand strings
with a choice of left-hand basketballs and handy left-hand rings.
When I saw the left-hand carpet bowls I thought, how smart is that?
but the greatest of surprises was the left-hand bowling mat.

The electrical department had a range of left-hand leads
that were used for those appliances that every left-hand needs.
There were left-hand pots for coffee which were just ideal for me
with a range of left-hand kettles I could use for brewing tea.
And alongside left-hand toasters there were left-hand frying pans
with a choice of left-hand cordless drills and noisy left-hand fans.

In an area they set aside for pets and what they need,
there were left-hand bones for puppies and some left-hand cocky seed.
In between the left-hand goldfish bowls and left-hand wheels for rats,
there were left-hand bells for budgies and some left-hand toys for cats.
And above the left-hand collars there were handy left-hand books
that provided information on the care of backyard chooks.

In the Garden Centre out the back there was so much to choose,
with a range of left-hand implements that Lefties need to use.
There were left hand whipper-snippers and a row of left-hand rakes
that were lined up with the left-hand hoes and steel tomato stakes.
And beside the left-hand chainsaws, they had left-hand bars and chains
underneath a left-hand brolly for the garden when it rains.

In a section just for travellers they had some left-hand bags,
with a choice of left-hand postcards and some left-hand Aussie flags.
And for hikers who went walking into places they don’t know,
they had left-hand maps and compasses to show them where to go.
But the most impressive thing I saw for going overseas
was the range of left-hand locks they had with left-hand codes and keys.

Near the exit there were cabinets of left-hand games and toys
that appealed to all those families with Leftie girls and boys.
There were left-hand packs of playing cards and left-hand dolls to dress
near a box of left-hand Lego and some left-hand boards for chess.
As I left the left-hand shop that day, I wondered if they knew,
for the left-hand stuff they sold there you could use your right hand too.


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