Hello - I am Australian.
Born nineteen thirty three;
Three people were there for my coming;
My mother,the doctor, and me.
I grew up in dry inland places,
A long, long way from the seas;
I learned to love open spaces
Where I could do as I please.
My first day at school was a shambles,
I went home at midday,you see;
Mom sent me back quite quickly
'Cause school didn't finish 'till three.
In class I was a good student;
At exams, I did very well;
But when I went out in the schoolyard
I seemed to come under a spell.
At sport I was just a number;
I excelled at nothing at all.
My knowledge was somewhat restricted,
But, If an object is round, its a ball.
I started work when I had to,
I needed to pay my own way;
So I worked every day for a long time;
'Till I learned the word 'No', I could say.
I decided to upgrade my learning;
Correspondence, they said, was the way.
So I spent seven years of my spare time
Learning naught I could use,anyway.
I did marry a local young lady;
But too soon we went our own ways;
Together,we still had five children
Whose lives never cease to amaze.
I worked in a country that's backward;
Or,so the pundits did say;
But the local people accepted me
So I had a wonderful stay.
I went to NZ for a looksee;
North Island is all that I've seen.
Fourteen years I lived there,
There's many nice places I've been.
Now I'm old - not retired;
I caretake a property now;
Fix fences,check water and such like,
And all for the good of the cows.
My physical fitness has lessened,
My stamina's not what it was,
So I now write lots of poetry,
The reason is - simply because.
Author notes
Truth may be stranger than fiction
In a list
A contest entry
- Postsecret/Truth [Big Points!] by Walking Oxymoron.
1750 points, ended July 27, 43 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Any comments are welcome
Comments
1 - 14 of 14
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A dynamic piece that showed us your life in small quick movie clips...but in words. Excellent form that really rocked along and showed me the wonderful life you have led and are still leading today. That is one great job you do, and just for the cows. It would be my pleasure to do that, more that a job. Thanks for the wonderful read and the very best in the contest.
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You do my old heart good with your flattering comments. I thank you for them and appreciate reading what you have to say. This is really a snapshot of some of the bits and pieces that made up my life. the good bits always outdo the bad ones.
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Life's Like That sails with its own uncharted rhythm from its initial inauguration of being blessed by being an Australian and continues in a candid voice that has a natural resonance, loved the humour re the schoolboy mistakenly going home at lunchtime, aww , bless his cotton socks. You portray a full life with many lessons along life's highway, tucking trials under your belt and counting instead all the boxes ticked, way to go when you can keep learning after a lifetime of earning a crust Bob, it's enough reason to write simply because, the muse is your mistress and together you can traverse the past and map the future, from the furrow of your imagination enjoying the liberty of creation. A frank piece of personal poetry that was a pleasure to read.
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A great many thanks you for you kind comments. Like most people there has been a few ups and downs, but looking back and balancing things out the good times outweigh the bad by a country mile. And what I have learned is, that there is a future.
Some times in dark moments I have wondered, but there is a future.
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Great write Bob, I really enjoyed your story, through your life trail, especially the ending statement...just because...would love to meet you...can relate to five children that never seem to amaze...mine move too fast for me...lol...
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I hardly ever see them now. They have grown up and made their own lives. My grandchildren are getting married and I have at least one great grandchild. The world is ever changing and life goes on whether we like it, or not. So, I like it, whatever it is. I have stopped trying to keep up with the kids and the grandkids, their world is different to mine. Many thanks for commenting, i love the feedback.
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Loved it Bob!
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Thanks John, live has its ups and downs, luckily I remember the upside best.
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Awesome!!
I liked the write, the flow was nice, and it bumbled along quite merrily!
I loved...
At sport I was just a number;
I excelled at nothing at all.
My knowledge was somewhat restricted,
But, If an object is round, its a ball.
It reminded me of all my childcare training, assimilation and whatnot...
I decided to upgrade my learning;
Correspondence, they said, was the way.
So I spent seven years of my spare time
Learning naught I could use,anyway.
That too, It was like a cynical side of your character coming through.
Excellent job here!
And loving the final stanza. Accepting that things don't work 100% all the time, but damn, they still work -
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Thank you for a wonderful comment on this piece. It is basically true. My sporting achievements were an absolute zero, my correspondence studies were on the wrong subject for the life I led, but darn it all, I enjoyed what I did, well, most of the time anyway.
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What a marvelous walk through your life with you Bob.I thoroughly enjoyed every leg of the journey. Thank you for sharing my friend...Excellent ...mal
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You are welcome Mal, to join me anytime. Many thanks for your visit and comments. Much appreciated.
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Brilliant write...
This is such a wonderful trip you've taken the reader on here
I enjoyed the read ever so much 
Best of luck in the contest 
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Thank you Julie, this is a very old one revisited and edited yet again. It has been a wonderful trip.
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