Outback Boy Poem by Francis Duggan

He came to town a few months back and he has turned nineteen
And to city ways and city life you might say he is green
He works as a builder's labourer with older and hardened men
He might have chose an easier job for his new life to begin.

His co workers poke fun at him they call him 'Outback boy'
In their group he does not fit in he's sensitive and shy
The quiet bloke from the country they do not understand
He may as well have come here from remote and distant Land.

Their taunts and unprovoked attacks he pretends to ignore
But harassment he never has had to deal with before
And though he's resolved to quit this job and look for work elsewhere
The hurt of humiliation will take time to repair.

Those who dismiss workplace bullying as an anti blue collar lie
Might do well to talk to one like the outcast outback boy
For he has borne the brunt of it and he's felt the mental pain
And the scars of workplace bullying with him will long remain.

His co workers call him outback boy and on him play cruel tricks
They take the lunch from his lunch bag and fill it up with bricks
And they undermine his self esteem how can they be so cruel?
The bully boy mentality doesn't end in Primary school.

The young man from the country is in at the deep end
Where he works he is victimised and there doesn't have a friend
And though he's resolved to quit this job and to look for work elsewhere
The hurt of humiliation will take time to repair.