Bunko.T Loc: Western Australia.

Let's see how the rest of the world goes with this.


It is probably only Australians who can write poetry about Australian icons that can be understood by Australians.

If you have a good memory, lived on a farm or are used to camping you will know what I mean when you read today’s Daily Good One.

Goodbye Granddad

Poor old Granddad's passed away, cut off in his prime,
He never had a day off crook - gone before his time,
We found him in the dunny, collapsed there on the seat,
A startled look upon his face, his trousers around his feet,

The doctor said his heart was good - fit as any trout,
The Constable he had his say, 'foul play' was not ruled out.
There were theories at the inquest of snakebite without trace,
Of redbacks quietly creeping and death from outer space,

No-one had a clue at all - the judge was in some doubt,
When Dad was called to have his say as to how it came about,
'I reckon I can clear it up,' said Dad with trembling breath,
'You see it's quite a story - but it could explain his death.'

'This here exploration mob had been looking at our soil,
And they reckoned that our farm was just the place for oil,
So they came and put a bore down and said they'd make some trials,
They drilled a hole as deep as hell, they said about three miles.

Well, they never found a trace of oil and off they went, post haste,
And I couldn't see a hole like that go to flamin' waste,
So I moved the dunny over it - real smart move I thought,
I'd never have to dig again - I'd never be 'caught short'.

The day I moved the dunny, it looked a proper sight,
But I didn't dream poor Granddad would pass away that night,
Now I reckon what has happened - poor Granddad didn't know,
The dunny was re-located when that night he had to go.

And you'll probably be wondering
how poor Granddad did his dash--
Well, he always used to hold his breath
Until he heard the splash!!

krf4 Loc: Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio

I worked at a wastewater treatment plant for 34 years, I think I understand. LOL

Ron K. Loc: Upstate NY.

Good one!!!

JoeV Loc: Wisconsin

Funny. Interesting how the context let's you guess the meaning of the words that are unfamiliar.

Rathyatra Loc: Southport, United Kingdom

That's a cracker - very funny!!

Shutter Bugger

Here's another:

It was somewhere up the country in a land of rock and scrub,
That they formed an institution called the Geebung Polo Club.
They were long and wiry natives of the rugged mountainside,
And the horse was never saddled that the Geebungs couldn't ride;
But their style of playing polo was irregular and rash -
They had mighty little science, but a mighty lot of dash:
And they played on mountain ponies that were muscular and strong,
Though their coats were quite unpolished, and their manes and tails were long.
And they used to train those ponies wheeling cattle in the scrub:
They were demons, were the members of the Geebung Polo Club.


It was somewhere down the country, in a city's smoke and steam,
That a polo club existed, called the Cuff and Collar Team.
As a social institution 'twas a marvellous success,
For the members were distinguished by exclusiveness and dress.
They had natty little ponies that were nice, and smooth, and sleek,
For their cultivated owners only rode 'em once a week.
So they started up the country in pursuit of sport and fame,
For they meant to show the Geebungs how they ought to play the game;
And they took their valets with them - just to give their boots a rub
Ere they started operations on the Geebung Polo Club.


Now my readers can imagine how the contest ebbed and flowed,
When the Geebung boys got going it was time to clear the road;
And the game was so terrific that ere half the time was gone
A spectator's leg was broken - just from merely looking on.
For they waddied one another till the plain was strewn with dead,
While the score was kept so even that they neither got ahead.
And the Cuff and Collar captain, when he tumbled off to die,
Was the last surviving player - so the game was called a tie.


Then the captain of the Geebungs raised him slowly from the ground,
Though his wounds were mostly mortal, yet he fiercely gazed around;
There was no one to oppose him - all the rest were in a trance,
So he scrambled on his pony for his last expiring chance,
For he meant to make an effort to get victory to his side;
So he struck at goal - and missed it - then he tumbled off and died.


By the old Campaspe River, where the breezes shake the grass,
There's a row of little gravestones that the stockmen never pass,
For they bear a crude inscription saying, "Stranger, drop a tear,
For the Cuff and Collar players and the Geebung boys lie here."
And on misty moonlit evenings, while the dingoes howl around,
You can see their shadows flitting down that phantom polo ground;
You can hear the loud collisions as the flying players meet,
And the rattle of the mallets, and the rush of ponies' feet,
Till the terrified spectator rides like blazes to the pub -
He's been haunted by the spectres of the Geebung Polo Club.

A. B. "Banjo" Paterson.

The Antipodean, 1893

Ron K. Loc: Upstate NY.

Banjo Patterson is an institution in Oz.

Raider Fan Loc: Lake County, IL.

Too Funny!!

dragonfist Loc: Stafford, N.Y.

That was great. Very true that even if one isn't familiar with all the words it is easily understood after reading the whole thing.

Bunko.T Loc: Western Australia.

Hi D. Yes, I wasn't sure how it would work in the US, but the perception takes over & translates.
I would think Dunny is understood internationally but not what we call 'The Long Drop' style of Dunny. Self explanatory but not usually as deep/long as a dud oil well.
It's very funny, even for us down here. We have quite a lot of bush poetry & most of it humorous about serious things. Un like you guys, we can have a laugh at ourselves.
Cheers. ET.