I can ride a horse
I can ride a horse; I can milk a cow;
Ask me how computers work; I don’t know how.
I can dress a lamb; I can shear a sheep;
Ask me to explain a browser; you wouldn’t hear a peep.
I can feed a calf; I can drench a ewe;
Ask me what RAM is; I wouldn’t have a clue.
I can back a trailer; could’ve been a truckie;
Ask me to describe a ‘cookie’; you’d be blooming lucky.
I can teach a class; I can run a school;
Ask about cyberspace; I’d feel a total fool.
I can write a story; even corny verse;
Try to fix an iPad? I’d only make it worse.
I can drive a tractor; I can use a plough;
But as for modern smart phones; my only word is “WOW”
I can paint a house; I can dig a well;
Invent a NURA Headphone? A snowflake’s chance in hell.
I guess I’m just old fashioned; a classic old Australian;
In ‘century twenty-one’; I feel just like an alien.
Now there is a new breed; another generation;
Smart as smart as smart is; a total revelation.
May they use their time here wisely; every precious minute;
Taking care of this world; and all who’re living in it.
- Jeff Bishop, 2017
St Margaret’s News
12
April 2020