Thanks everybody who took time to reply. As I said, some very interesting replies, I read them all carefully.
The subject poem is a poem in "rhyme and metre".
It is a true story, written by a man who was brought up on a rural property in Australia and who to-day, lives in that small rural district community.
The story is about a farmer in a district which never sees snow, but one day wakes up to find to his great surprise that snow has covered his farm. He is amazed; a once in a lifetime event, he walks in it, even takes a handful to taste it, then goes inside to wake up the children, to come and see the marvellous sight.
To me, even in that small sample, it contains the authentic images that show the observations of a true blue bushie. Bill the battler was right on the money.
So I hold the view that it is certainly a bush poem.
What you have Maureen is the sense of the story, I agree.
Beware the trap of the false analogy, Bob.
I think Marty is right, no need to spell it out.... common sense will do it.
I revere it as brilliant poetry. A wonderful magic moment of bush life is presented in the most economical use of language.The language is fresh and in the active voice. The sentences are clear , no big words. No stumbling syntax. No waffle. No adjectives that add nothing to the picture, and it has no sentimentality.
To understand this poem I think one has to understand that the rhythm of verse is not just the metre. It is also the rhythm of language which includes the rhythm of the pauses.
I wouldn't want to change any words or rearrange the lines because that would destroy
the subtle rhythm of pauses that the writer has been so careful to construct.
I must mention,
the poem is called " One in a Lifetime,Snow " and it is by Les Murray.