Memories to Lament

Howdydoo all, hope you are doing well and behaving yourselves amidst the Virus restrictions. Victoria not looking good, lots of new cases appearing throughout the State, obviously those involved in the recent rally will be becoming anxious waiting for any signs of contracting the virus, for their sake I hope they remain clear. 
Tassie not looking too bad, some restrictions being eased and all going well, should not be far away from getting back to normal. Lets hope that when the border is opened that we do not encounter any spike in cases, god willing.
Below is a verse (story) I put together just recently. Many years back I encountered a bloke , a veteran, who told me his version of his experiences of war during the Middle East Campaign, we were downing a beer or two in Caboolture QLD at the time, I had no reason to disbelieve his account so here follows my adaption of his memories....good reading.



Memories to Lament

Way back in nineteen forty... I was a young bloke drovin oe’r the plain

From west of Warialda ...to Tenterfield...and then back home again

When I rode back home one day, my mum she met me at the door

She handed me a letter awash in tears, I’d been called up to war.

To leave my dog and my horse behind... was a difficult stage in my life

Can’t imagine how I would have felt... if I’d had kids... and a wife

The day I left my mum was in tears , I told her not to worry so

My Country has called me up to war... and I just have to go.

I took the rattler down to Sydney town York Street waitin there for me

It was standing room only... lots of eager boys seeking a trip overseas

Billy Dargin, and Benny Hall were there, they hailed from way up Armidale

After signing up we took a truck to Puckapunyal... and joined an army detail

It was but only a matter of time before we’d made the grade and were ready to fight

Mostly a bunch of kids just outa school... not knowing of their plight

Soon back onto the trucks to Sydney town.. and from the Quay we did depart

A Brigade of young’uns aboard the SS Queen Mary, not old enough to be street-smart.

Tobruk was our destination... but at the time... to where we did not know

The voyage across the Indian Ocean kept many a young soldier down below

Around Cape Horn without a skirmish, steadfastly The Mary made her way

Then into the Mediterranean... to Egypt and Libya, where we found our prey

The Western Desert Force was to be reckoned with ...beit with little firepower

For several months they held the fort against the enemy, never once to cower

The Axis threw the might of tanks, battleships and planes, against but a few…

But the Aussie Diggers held them back, not allowing the enemy to breakthrough

When the battle for Tobruk was over and the Axis retreated to their hole

We, left out there on the front... took days to count up the mounting toll

Many Diggers had been lost, others with horrific injuries known as human debris

Some still remain there silent under the desert sand... whilst some are home ...

now laying under a wattle tree.

Billy Dargin never made it back, and Benny Hall never again saw the light of day

But their accomplishments have lived on, and of course remembered every Anzac day

Whilst I made it home to Warialda... my mum she was waiting with my favourite rabbit stew

Yes, now I am back with my horse and my dog... drovin cattle again across the Old Barcoo.

Darrell B Parker

Weaver of Words and Emotions

20/06/2020

The Day I Conquered North West Bay

Well folks, here I am back again with another story to tell, this time a really true story, and one that I can attest to...yes, I was there, way back in 2004, playing in The Vets State Championship at North West Bay, down past Hobart. When I arrived there and gazed upon the Course I had doubts that I could traverse it, on the side of a hill it is. Anyway, I put the hilly issue behind me and with the confidence of my mate Les Fisher, who accompanied me down there, (he also played) I was able to overcome the difficulty and come out a winner, my best lifetime performance. To come out in front of Scotsman Duncan Grant was a feather in my cap yes indeed.
Sure hope you enjoy the read.  Dazza.

The Day I Conquered North West Bay

The years have passed by slowly ever since that great day

When Les Fisher accompanied me down south...down to North West Bay

We left in the early hours...long before the sunlight pierced the dark

The highway swathed in fog, long before we reached... Hobart

The City was eerie as we manoeuvred through vacant streets under light

We missed the Casino down on the river as further south we had in sight

Down past Kingston town we plied... most others going the other way

It was not long before we pulled off the highway into... North West Bay.

The parking lot was quiet, but one or two were warming up inside

Fish and I made a high point and o’er the course we cast our eye

I gazed across the fairways there sitting on an angle of forty five...

I was not so sure this was the place for me, how was I to survive?

Many players soon arrived and a quorum was more than plenty

Risty from Launnie was in the field along with lots of Lay, and the Gentry

And of course, the one bloke we most feared was down on the practice green

Yes, Duncan Grant the Scottish icon was favoured to be supreme.

So, after nine holes the Championship was standing as was inferred

The Scotsman was well in front whilst I was nicely placed back there in third

Twas thought that four shots behind was far too difficult to recover

I even think Duncan was satisfied he’d be showing the Cup to his mother

With Duncan in the group behind, I birdied the tenth, my forty footer never missed

Yes, the tenth I remember as the turning point, it gave me the courage to resist

I turned back towards the tenth tee and waved towards Duncan with defiance

Could I continue to master this game of golf, and win the Championship...perchance

The Course was in pretty good condition, and the greens through the back nine began to submit

I had another birdie and a few pars along the way, and at the last I made ready for the final hit

The fairway was uphill, then  left around the lake, down a gradient, and there elevated... awaits the green

Well... Fish told me if I wanted to win, take on the lake, make it the best shot that's ever been

Across the lake, the green it looked half a mile away, I had to wait for a group to decamp

Sizing up my second shot to this par five, do I have what it takes to become the Champ?

The three wood was my club of choice ... and after 45 years of practice I swung away

Now my name is etched into the Joe French Cup ...for this was the day...

I conquered North West Bay.

Darrell B Parker

Weaver of Words and Emotions.

16/6/20

Howdydoo.... hope all is well with everyone and still staying safe.  
Looks like the country will be remaining under Border  restrictions for a while longer yet. Absolute stupidity is all I can say re the protests, the organisers need to be taken to task, fined, locked up, or even exported to China, and , might I add, the State Governments need to stand up and be counted, looks like its one law for some and not for others, seems the lefties have the "right of way" through out this pandemic, have the Health Ministers lost control?  It's incredulously ridiculous that thousands can gather and protest side by side, when the rest of us (Golfers) are restricted to one person per golf cart , when will commonsense begin to prevail? how long do we have to wait? 
Kudos to the Federal Government for how it has handled the pandemic, Australia must be a sparkling  diamond  in the eyes of the rest of the World, lets not allow the few who want to cloud the results with riots, if they wish to protest, protest peacefully!!

Following is a poem I penned way back in 1996, I have tried to describe the events of Port Arthur as I imagined. 

Just recently there has been more public mentions of the massacre being a furphy and not committed by the guilty, but a Government cover up, just who comes up with these ridiculously obnoxious ideas, they must be living in a different world than the Justice System and the rest of us,  maybe been  watching too many movie massacres on the tv, it's about time the "demoniac's" curled up on their lounge and found freedom from their disorder.

I do hope my poem does not offend anyone.... 

Ode to Port Arthur...1996

The day it dawned quite overcast

A shroud of fog lay low,

A day for which the aftermath

From our hearts will never flow,

An aftermath which has left us

All feeling so forlorn,

A day when the ghosts of Port Arthur

Gather at our sides........to mourn.

Into Old Port Arthur Town

Many people made their way,

Who could ever contemplate?

What was in store for them this day?

Arm in arm....hand in hand

They strolled the Convict site,

With visions of those ghastly forms

Roaming the ruins throughout the night.

But the stillness of this autumn day

Was shattered by reverberating sound,

This was followed by savage slaughter

As bodies crumpled to the ground,

Were we in a War zone?

Or watching Thespians at play?

Our questions were soon answered

As the gun smoke cleared away.

Where had this Demon come from?

He, who fired this lethal volley,

What ever had possessed him?

To commit this bloody folly,

A man so crazed that he was blind

To the beauties of this world,

Was he blind to those atrocities?

Which on this day unfurled?

Yes, this day was made for Heroes

As other Heroes had gone before,

Port Arthur had a host of Heroes

Lying....dying....on the floor,

On the Killing Fields of Port Arthur

The old horrors are reborn,

As now, the Ghosts of Old Port Arthur

Gather at our sides to mourn.

Darrell B. Parker

The Bush Poet of Kalangadoo

8/5/96