ABPA - Australian Bush Poets Association

...Not sure if I have posted this before (??) - but fo rteh saker of getting something up....here goes

Family, Food, and Chooks

The winter sun streams in across the old verandah floor
And it shines apon Nan’s face as she sits beside the door
She’s old and she is ill and these will be her final days
So I think the sun has never offered more appealing rays

I am young and full of questions, only just turned twenty three
And I visit every day so I can help her with her tea
But I’m really seeking wisdom, so I come with eager ears
For the secrets of a life that you can only learn with years

She sits and eats her dinner, and the gravy stains her chin
“the peas were good”, she says, “but the sauce a little thin”
And she “saw your dad this morning”, and ”wished he’d take more care”
“He doesn’t watch his health now that your mother isn’t there”

She says “the chooks are laying” and tells me of their ways
But offers not a speck of wisdom gleaned throughout her days,
So I clean the dish and leave her with a kiss apon the cheek,
Taking only what she told me every other day that week

One day she is admitted, and my mother comes to care,
She returns to bravely share the duties family women share
She does not seek forgiveness and does not apologise
The unspoken understanding is revealed in both their eyes

At the dying womans side, I wonder what it means to 'live'
While my mother offers tenderness that I could rarely give
Nan says “Your Dad seems better”, and “the chooks are off the lay”
And “I hope they haven’t got the bloody meatloaf on today”

It is awful at the end and Mum rarely gets to leave
Though the nurses offer comfort and they offer some reprieve
But the morphine is a madness, as she fades with every breath
and mum bears a heavy burden, bringing dignity to death

Then it’s over, and mums leaving, now the funeral has been done
It’s a time for many questions, but I have really only one
Though I feel ashamed in asking, I will ask it just the same
“Was there wisdom that was passed on at the dying of the flame?”

Mum draws me close and holds me, she is smiling through her tears
And I’m feeling like an infant, for she sees across my years
“She said “your Dad was looking well”, and drifted away saying
That “the evening meal was good”, and she “hoped the chooks were laying””

Now when the winter sun shines in I turn my face toward it
And I rue the many years of youth I foolishly ignored it
I just enjoy my children’s health, and the meals my lover cooks
And I’m thinking to myself…. ‘I had better get some chooks’

h

Aww gee Hully - that is a two hanky job.

Sad subject handled beautifully - as always - go get those chooks they are great to cuddle

Cheers

Maureen

Have to agree with Maureen, Hully, beautiful writing mate.

G'day Hully,

I should post this as it was typed... it's gunny jow many mustakes you make, ryping through tears.

Great poem, as we have come to expect from you. Keep them coming. I have a dozen hankies, neatly ironed and ready for use. and my chooks are laying fine thanks, 3 hens and 3 eggs every day.

Beautiful poem, as usual Hully!
Doesn't matter if you have posted it before - off to a fresh start now, so we will be waiting for all the others you have posted!!

G'day Hully,
A great read again, the more I read it the more I see the admiration you have for Henry, it could easily be one of his.

Oh Andrew, I'm crying my eyes out! How do you write such emotional stuff like that? I've gotta go get tissues, my sleeves are all mascara stained ...

Thank you
ValW

They say with age comes wisdom but it also brings memories and your poem tugs at the heart. Its nice to remember.

Thanks Dave.

Just beautiful, so sad, but still beautiful somehow. It's a common experience sadly. I have lived through it myself both as the young person and as the mother in your poem, and you have captured it so well.