"esky" poems
THE ALLAN FAMILY STORY
YOU SEE MY FAMILY WERE A GOOD CAMPING FAMILY
AND WE HAD THIS BIG ORANJE TENT, WHERE THE
FAMILY BROUGHT TO CAMPING GROUNDS, TO
ENJOY WEEKEND CAMPING, I REMEMBER CAMPING
EVERY WHERE AROUND NSW AND THE ACT
AND AS A WAY OF EXCAPING THE NORMAL LIVES
ME AND MY BROTHER PUT THE TENT UP IN THE BACKYARD
AND HAD OUR OWN CAMPING GROUND, AND I HAVE
SO MANY GREAT MOMENTS, LIKE NEW YEARS EVE PARTIES WITH LYLE
AND YEAH, I WAS LIKE A NORMAL TEENAGER, WITH SLEEPOVERS IN THE TENT
AND HAVING AN ESKY OF DRINK AND SAUSAGES AND OTHER THINGS LIKE
CHIPS AND I GOT SOME GREAT PHOTOS ME AND LYLE ARE HAVING A GREAT
PARTY FOR NEW YEARS EVE, WE CELEBRATED WITH POISON AND DEF LEOPARD
AND LYLE BOUGHT AIR SUPPLY, OH MY GODFATHER, I HATE THAT BAND
I REMEMBER WHEN ME AND MY BROTHER WENT IN THE TENT, WE WATCHED TV
AND WE TALKED FOR HOURS LIKE ME AND LYLE, WE HAD A HEAP OF ****** FUN
YA SEE I REMEMBER LYLE SAID HE WASN’T SCARED OF THE OLD BOOGIE WOMAN
AND I AM NOT SCARED OF THE OLD BOOGIE WOMAN EITHER
AND MY BROTHER LOVED TO JOKE AROUND WITH US
YA SEE, LYLE WAS ENJOYING PUTTING THE TENT UP
AND WE BOTH HAD OUR STEREOS, AND WE PLAYED GREAT TOP 49 HITS OF THAT ERA
YOU SEE, MY DAD WAS A GREAT CAMPER AND BUSHWALKER, AND BUDDHA’S SPIRIT
MADE ME INHERIT DAD’S ADVENTURE BLOOD, BECAUSE, OF MY LAST 2 HUMAN LIVES
BEING GREAME THORNE, AND PATRICK DUNBAR, BOTH KILLED AT 8
AND BUDDHA MADE ME AN ALLAN, TO KEEP ME SAFE
BUT I WAS A KEEN BACKYARD CAMPER, COOKING ON GAS BBQS
AND EATING CHIPS, AND HEAPS OF CHOCOLATES, AND ME AND LYLE BOTH WATCHED THE CRICKET
ON THE TELEVISION IN THE TENT AND NEW YEARS EVE, WE WATCHED THE GREAT
BICENTENNIAL NEW YEARS EVE CONCERT IN 1987, ME AND LYLE HAD FUN DOING THIS AS
WELL AS WATCH GREAT MOVIES ON THE VHS RECORDER,
BUT THAT ALL ENDED, WE RAGED A BIG PARTY IN THE TENT, WITH MUSIC AND GREAT FOOD
I CAN’T REALLY HAVE *** I AM NOT THE *** TYPE, I TALK ABOUT ***** DONORS
BUT ONE THING I WAS GOOD AT, WAS TALKING, WITH LYLE, PATRICK MY BROTHER, SCOTT,
AND MANY MORE, AND THE BIG ORANGE TENT WAS FINALLY BOUGHT BY A FAMILY
I THOUGHT I SAW IT AT THE ABORIGINAL TENT EMBASSY, IT COULD’VE BEEN
IT LOOKED LIKE IT, AND IT’S GOOD THAT, IF IT IS, THAT POOR PEOPLE WITHOUT A HOME
ARE ENJOYING THIS TENT AS A HOME
GREAT ALLAN FAMILY CAMPING OVER
Jan 8, 2015
Jan 8, 2015 at 10:50 PM UTC
It was threatening rain for a week or more
It was always threatening rain,
The Weather Bureau was always sore
When the threatening rain never came.
We’d hold an open air barbecue
Each time they said it would come,
‘Hey it’s gonna rain,’ said Oliver Payne,
‘What do they think, we’re dumb?’
But the Bureau Chief, one Adrian Reef
Said he was sick to the core,
Why wouldn’t the weather behave itself
Like it had done before,
‘It’s making us look like a laughing stock,’
He bitterly said to Jane,
‘I want you to ring up the airport now
And charter a small, light plane,’
He loaded the plane up with dry ice
And a generous load of salt,
And lugged along an elephant gun,
The plane took off with a jolt,
He peppered the clouds with ice that day,
He put his job on the line,
The last thing he wanted to have to say:
‘The weather is going to be fine.’
And down on the ground at the barbecue
We were sizzling snags and steak,
Having an ice cold beer or two
And trying to stay awake.
The sultry weather was drowsy then
We’d heard the report, in vain,
But just when the steaks were nicely done
It came down, bucketing rain.
We didn’t have time to pack it up,
We couldn’t save snags or steak,
In only a couple of minutes there
We were staggering round in a lake,
And Oliver’s esky floated away
With the rest of the beer we’d bought,
While we took shelter as best we could
Under cover of Maggie’s porch.
The water rose right up to our knees,
Our cars were afloat that day,
The chickens drowned and the old hearth hound
Was found seven miles away,
While on the Teev was the Bureau Chief
With a grin that was not quite sane,
He knew he’d won with his elephant gun,
‘The sky is threatening rain!’
David Lewis Paget
Jan 9, 2015
Jan 9, 2015 at 2:04 PM UTC
They sit
on the riverbank
on rickety stool
or upturned buckets
elbows resting on knees
hand on rod or simple reel
they sit, they wait
they contemplate
and cogitate
hats on heads
with scrapes and muck and holes
old sandshoes
that have long forgotten
the words white and tennis
shorts or trousers
that sit comfortbably on the hips
and old threadbare shirts
they sit, they stare
into the bright river wake
they take breathes of air
they of the ambience intake
about them is a calm
a stillness, a balm
and tho flys hover
and create bother
there is grace
as they swat
and bat them off
their face
even when they hook
a catch, there is a rhythm
to the fight, of reel and splash
as the duel, to bring the hunted
to heel, be it snagged boot
or that night's meal
they sit, they stand
rod and reel in hand
and thake a punt
on the aquarian hunt
with net and esky
and can of bait
they sit, they wait
and the world
revolves slowly
to them, there is
something sacred
something holy
about the time spent
on the riverbank
catching fish
catching up to oneself
time given to repent
relinquish, replenish
to reinvent, a soul
they sit, they wait
they contemplate
they consecrate
simple things to holy
these old men who fish
on the riverbanks
an ol man river
watches and gently
smiles
Feb 18, 2017
Feb 18, 2017 at 10:02 PM UTC
Rainbow village episode 13
It was getting late on January 24" and Lyle brought his bin to the road outside Rainbow village, and as he got to the road. He saw his old drinking friend, Walt Sullivan, and they had a lot to talk about, like that Austealia day in the sports bar, back in 1985, where it was decorated in Aussie flags, and boxing kangaroo flags as wel, as green and gold streamers and a poster of Captain Cook, and they remembered every joke that was told that night,
Like what did the gum tree say to it's owner when his wife went shopping
And the answer is, how much can a koala bare, the joes hardly made sense, thinking back, but we had ***** down us, and then Walt told a joke, how Many Ausies does it take to ***** in a light bulb, and the answer is, none, they are too busy drinking beer and saying
G' day, and then Lyle told a joke, which was what was the first thing captain cook saw as he arrived in Sydney, and the answer is, the first thing he saw is a drunken man lying on the ground because right wing governments don't give a rats *** and after that Lyle started to tale about life in the village, and he said he has never been happier, he doesn't have to worry about being lonely because he knows everyone here, and he can come and go as he pleases, And that is better than a nursing home, heaps better, and then Walt gave Lyle a VB to celebrate Australia day with and then they started talking about the formalities of the Australia day celebrations down the pub, and one formality was, the new Australian citizens, who are celebrating being Australians, as well as the annual beer gulping contest, and Lyle won two years of that, and then Walt told them that he liked the annual cricket match, which was played at the sports club oval, and Walt is still bragging about hitting heaps of sixes, and heaps of fours too.
It was a great experience to play cricket, cause it is the Australian game, and we had an esky full of beer, soft drinks and salad as well as a BBQ, and the Australia day was cool.
And Walt told Lyle that he liked playing up back in the old days, by meeting his friends down the drains and drink to people's health down there. And Lyle who didn't approve of that said goodbye, and went inside, and Walt went back to his house, and Lyle went into his villa and watched the box, and yes he saw the tennis. Which made him automatically think of the Australia day annual Tennis contest, which went for 10 years, and Lyle wa thinking about it smiling because he won all of the 10 years, and the prize was a trophy as well as a $1,000 cheque, Lyle was very happy, but looking back at it, the tennis event is sadly missed by the community, but you can't take the success away from Lyle, yes, it was cool
Thought Lyle, the end
Jan 31, 2015
Jan 31, 2015 at 3:13 AM UTC
What do you call a cat without nine lives?
Dead.
What do you call a clown with a blue nose?
A clown thats been sleeping with someones wife.
What do you sell to an eskimo?
Definitely not an esky or mo ice.
Feb 15, 2016
Feb 15, 2016 at 4:44 PM UTC