The Poetry Section

Life and Death.

I sometimes think as I grow old
Of the ones I loved and lost and it leaves me cold
My Mother, My Dad, my Brother, my friends
But the worst of all,was my Grand-daughter's end

They called me into her Hospital bed
They didn't tell me she was already dead
I could not of known as I walked down the path
That she had drowned in our humble bath.

A moment's lapse in her Mother's care
All I have now is a lock of her hair
I kissed her cold face, held her hand in mine
And carry her memory for the rest of my time.

There is life there is death it's a natural thing
We lament of the one,surround the other in'Bling'
We celebrate the Birth of the New-Born brand new
When one dies we know not of what to do.

Death comes, it is true like a thief in the night
Life comes into being and it's a wonderful sight
Yes, life is for living to be enjoyed it is true
Just be prepared for when Death visits you...Copyright.2018.Ross.L.Langlands.

Thanks Reefer. Very nice.

'My Rickety knee.

Well,I've been to the doctor about my Rickety knee
In the hope that he might do something for me
He looked at the scans and prodded a bit
And said. Please take a seat here's the worst of it.

You have some arthritis and you also have gout
The Patella is worn and a spur needs taking out
The tendons are are weakened and full of imflamation
You need to lose weight and for your information.

Your right hip is lower than your left one you see
And this is affecting your Rickety knee
As you lead with your left leg,your about average tall
As you lead with your right leg your tending to fall.

You walk like a sailor coming home from a bar
Like a drunken old seaman is like what you are
Your lurching from one side and then from the other
But,there is some good news Ill tell you this brother.

If we can discover what's causing one hip
To be higher than the other, like an ill laden ship
No surgery'll be needed,you'll get some respite
Form the pain you are saying you have every night.

Lose a few Kilo's from your substantial gut
Develop more muscle on your skinny little butt
Do some more walking if you can, on the grass
Do lots of push-ups just get up off your arse!.

Go have an X-Ray, this time standing please
I'd like to to see how it's effecting your knees
Try these pink pills,relax don't grind your Mola's
And please pay the girl my 200 Dollars... Copyright Ross.L.Langlands.2018.

The Children on Pennyweight Hill.

I once went a driving down Castlemaine way
And found me a dirt road one bright winter's day
It seemed like a nice drive and I remember it still
An old faded street sign, said.
Pennyweight Hill.

So I stop by the wayside and looked all around
And saw through a gateway a burial ground
A sign told of the Gold Rush and these children, mere babes
Who were lost due to illness and disease of those days.

I thought of the parents their anguish and grief
From their pain and their sorrow, there was no release
Just a saddened old Padre reading a holy verse
And a Black festooned horse and dray, for a funeral hearse.

So I sat amongst them and noticed a chill
And I shrugged my shoulders, called myself a dill
That's when I heard it, a sweet melody.
And the feeling that someone was looking at me.

I swear I could see them, they were all gathered round
They sang and they laughed, t'was a glorious sound.
They thanked me for coming to see them that hour
And all I could give them was a small flannel flower

So if you are searching for gold one fine day
And you happen to be down old Castlemaine way
Please take them some flowers for me if you will
Give them to the Children on Pennyweight Hill.

And Castlemaine people don't leave me forlorn
These are the children of pioneers born
They once were your children yet they are yours still
Take care of the Children on Pennyweight Hill.

COPYRIGHT:R.LANGLANDS. 2017.

And the Web Site,
http://www.whattimeforgot.com/pennyweig etery.

THE FLAME!.

There was a flame lit years ago that never quite went out
Despite the efforts of those in power and wealthy layabouts.
That light I mean burns from within it's not a thing you see
It's light shines on the True Blue hope, for rights and liberty.

Now I'm not talking of the vote or going on some tour
We are all bound to attend the poll I think you know the score
We are a land of many flags it makes me scratch my pate
Why have we not a True Blue flag and an Australian Head of State.

The one we have is not from here she's from a foreign land
She rides a golden carriage there and waves her Royal hand
She lives a life of privilege her subjects stoop and bow
Some people think it's very nice but it's not what we need now.

Our flame was lit those years ago by the men of '54
Oh would!... that I was born in those heady days of yore
When those brave men flew a rebel flag and sung in rebel chorus
The flame yet burns within our hearts and lights the way before us cool
Copyright.2017 R.Langlands.

Last edited by reefer (05 Ju

A Shadow of a Man.

Hark roll up and heed the call,
Tyranny's alive! Not dead at all
A new threat rears it's ugly head,
Awake! Arise! get out of bed.
The Government made some laws you see,
That adversely affect both you and me.

They say that we can fossick for our gold,
As long as we do what we're told.
They kept their cards close to their chest,
While we figured out what serves us best
Then, with arrogance, they played their 'Trump'...
You cannot use a water pump!.

No concrete evidence to support a ban,
To high-bank gold instead of pan
Just ignorance and ill intent,
All in the name of the environment.

They say that we might kill some fish,
With sediment from within our dish
They think we leave things irk and sloppy,
Yet they hold hands with the mining lobby

Now is the time to stand and fight!
For what is just and what is right,
Alas it cannot be with steel or gun,
Though I admit it would be fun!

Our strength is in our numbers full,
I kid you not this is no bull!
For NAPFA is our very best tool,
To skittle this 'compliance ' fool.
10,000 of us, maybe more,
together like a lions roar

So, Hark! Rise up! Get down from your fence!
And come to join us in defense
Of what is right and what is just!
Else, it will be the end of us.

They wish us beaten, Like 'compliant' mules
With broken backs and useless tools!
All lined up with our 'watering can'
A shadow of our past...
A shadow of a man

Their Closing all the Gates.
Their closing all the gates my friend's
Prospectors all shutout
And they're closing all the gates my friend Heres what its all about.
Since our fathers first walked oer this land
Theres been a shining light.
For a man could break from poverty
If he held the Miners Right.
Now the Government and the mining Lobby
Rub their hands and say, Heres a Lurk!
Close the Gates and slap a padlock on, The gravels we wish to work.
Environmental issues are The catch-cry at their place
But theyll happily dig some Flamin hole That you can see from bloody Space!.
And now it seems theyll slap you hard And throw you in the Slammer
If their compliance mob haps to come by And yer pumping to your Banker.
And the truth is that we do no harm
Were not there blind and mental
We simply seek a little gold While clearing heavy metals.
Its further true we love the land
We take our family with us
To view the Mountain streams and smell Lemon scented Eucalyptus.
So we wont cop with this much more Where gathering with our mates
To fight you buggers whod keep us out By closing all the gates.

Copyright. 2017. Ross L. Langlands.

Reefer, I am so sorry that you lost your beautiful Granddaughter. You have a talent mate and you should put yours works into a book.
Kind Regards
Mackka 8.(

A Golden Treasure!

There are people out there who detect for gold
They're all packing Minelabs or so I'm told
They zero in on nuggets and do so with ease
And believe they've 'made it' they've "arrived' if you please

And there are those who scan a nearby beach
The art so I'm told is hard to teach
With earphones mounted they are in jubilation
Listening to the sounds of 'Discrimination'

But I have a 'TREASURE' that I'd gladly die for
It lies buried but not forgotten, outside my back door
It belonged to a little girl who I loved so much
And yet I still long for her sweet gentle touch

She departed this life, so tragically taken
And left us all broken forever we're shaken
She wore a bracelet of a Heart and Chain
Lost now, but hoped to be found again

For twenty-two years, my wife has made search
Whenever she would till our garden earth
She Knows 'tis here she probes as if blind
Oh what I would pay, for that Bracelet to find.
:rainbow:copyright. Ross.L.Langlands,2017.

THE RAIN ON MY ROOF.

The Man on the Land, kicks at the sand
Where his crops used to stand
The Sun dried out the soil
And the wind blew it away.

So he prays every night
In the hope that it might
Bring the rain he so desperately needs
And he asks for an angel to water the last of his seed.

Bring the rain to my roof, please send the rain to my roof
Let it fall, ease my pain
Am I pleading in vain
Please, my angel this once, let it rain.

And his woman at home pleads on the phone
To her Mum and her Dad
Please send some cash, Things are looking so bad
For we've spent all the last that we had

She is tired and forlorn, there's no love going on
And the children aren't coping so well
For each night is so long and she knows that it;s wrong
But she feels she's been sentenced to hell!.So she cries.

You know the rain on my roof, is like a symphony
Rain drumming a rhythm, easing my brain
You know the rain on my roof is like a hymn to me
Rain singing a sweet tune to my soul.

Send the rain to my roof, Please send the rain to my roof
Let it fall, ease my pain
Am I pleading in vain
Please, my angel this once let it rain

An Ode to us All

There is often nowhere you can turn to
No one to understand
There's no channel you can switch to
For 'Happy on Demand'.

Life never seems to bother about
Things like 'how you feel'
You're sentenced to the Darkness
And, there is no appeal.

But, just when all seems hopeless
When you need a friend the most
The best thing that you could have done
Is, 'send' that Forum post.

Oh look, God knows I've fought the 'Dog'
It's black teeth bit me deep
Day after day, no end in sight
No food, no rest, no sleep

I questioned everything I was
Or, what I'd ever done!
To warrant such a cruel blow
But, no answer ever come.

So these days now, I'm more content
There's no such blood and tears!
I, write things down and hope my words
Will echo down the years.

My laptop's on! I start's to write
I get's stuck into it!
I hope my words will ease your mind
And then, I press, SUBMIT

Put there by Ken

There's never a dull moment
Or period of gloom
Whenever my Mate Ken
Walks into the room.

He's often non-committal
A sort of,'need to know basis'
But his quick to share with those in need
Cause' he just likes to see happy faces.

His statute gait, is unmistaken
Sure steps forward, Determined concentration
You don't get that from other's than
From one whose 'been-there' defending our Nation.

His confidence and 'straight-forward' ways
Have carried on in 'civvy' days He has the means,He has the 'Pluck'
Has what he needs, it's in the Truck!.

Up Hill-Down Dale,we seem to hurtle,
Ken's got both hands on the wheel of the 'Turtle'
We cruise on in and cruise on out
There n' back there is no doubt.

And all the while ,Ken's at the wheel
I look on with boy-like zeal
Seatbelts on,...is this a Dream?
'Turtle'crosses ,the Turon Stream

'GOLDMASTER',...on...7.62
I'm on my feet and Ken is too!' With Camera...ON...I do detail
Each likely spot... each clue'd, tell-tale.

And Then!...He's gone...
Just like the wind
A cloud of dust
And 'Turtle's rear-end.

I'm left to ponder, his need to wander
Short and sharp,...no muck'n around
I watch the sunset...Gold and Zen!
And where a smile...Put there by Ken.

Ross Langlands.
Copyright.Dec. 2018.

My Pencils Lead Tip.

There's those who say, I'm a bit of a poet
Others would argue That you just would not know it!
What ever the case, I just write the words down
You'll either smile,be sick, or probably frown.

In a nation wanting, of the Poet and Bard
Of encouraging words, When times seem hard.
Who! will pen them,Who'll come to the fore
As the few who did so, In days of yore.

Who!will make comment,On the things we hold dear
Touching a heart-string, Easing a fear!
Who I am inside, Comes out in the light
My heart on my slieve, An Idea, in the night.

A vast, boundless Ocean, Of passion and thought
Caught up in the moment, But it all comes to nought
If you cannot grasp me, In fellowships grip
Then my words are as worthless, As my pencils lead tip.

Copyright.Ross.L.Langlands,2018.

Prospectors.

There's a group of fine people,at least the Majority's so
Who gather in places, for those in the know
They go by the name of 'Prospectors' of sorts
Their young and there old and their mostly 'good sports'

You'l find them all gathered under the Southern Cross
Some, have arrived to escape from 'The Boss'.
Other's are there for that's all they do
Most have arrived for just a day, perhaps two.

They turn up with detectors a shovel and pans
No pumps are allowed, you must use your hands
To sift through the gravels,it's on for young and old
I speak of the the pastime of searching for 'GOLD'.

Whatever their background whatever their name
The motivation for all is basically the same
Their seeking a diversion from that which is irk
To camp by a river get away from their 'work'.

You'll see them in Straw hats,Akubras and 'Wide-awakes'
Some don long gators to protect from the snakes
You'll even see one of them Detector in hand
Rhythmically combing the soil and the sand.

And then when the campfire's are lighting the night
And the stars in the heavens are shining so bright
The clinking of glasses a shout of 'here's cheers'
A glass of old Port or perhaps a few beers.

So if by chance my camp is near you
And you are thinking, of something to do
Come sit by my campfire I'll sing you a song
Relax, let your hair down I'll not do you wrong.

You'll find I've a good Heart,I'll give it my best The songs that I sing have withstood time's test
And when it's all over and we've sung the night through
I hope that you take a part of my heart home with you.
Copyright, Ross.L.LANGLANDS.2018.

Gee Reefer you have been busy. I have read most of your poems. Hope you are now getting relief from your knees and hips..You definately have a talent. Put them all into a book and see if a publisher is interested. Sorry to hear about your granddaughter. I am here if you need me.

Beautiful reefer, you are a prolific and accomplished wordsmith.

Well, thank you Flowerpot and Pete 165. :8 It's interesting to note that one of my detractors commented that what drew him to peruse my work was 'the subject matter'!. :lol: ] .accompanied by a 'thumbs down' emoji. haha! another suggested that this Thread would slowly 'self-destruct'.. as you can see ....we're still here..pump'in them out! :lol: :lol: :lol:
Thank you, Peter, for your concern over my 'Rickety Knee'... :Y: and the hip.! I have had a specialist look at them and he has ordered more scans...but he is of the opinion that if we can fix the hip...then the knee will greatly improve! :Y: :Y: :Y: so I'm cautiously optimistic that will be the case. Kindest regards to you both...Rossco.

I am glad to hear the good news from you reefer. Hope all goes well.Keep me posted.

Great work /words Reefer :Y: anyone who reads that already has a bit of your heart
Looking forward to the night I sit at your fire arty:.

RM Outback, Thank You mate!... :8 :8 :Y: It will be a great night mate something we can both look forward to. :Y: :Y: