Big Matt Poem by Francis Duggan

He was a bloke from the Strezlecki Ranges of sturdy build and quite a rugged man
And he did not wish to grow old and feeble and to die of old age not in his life plan
In his nineteenth year he left the Gippsland highlands and to the Queensland outback made his way
And he worked in shearing sheds as a gun shearer where honest sweat is shed for every pay.

And as well as a sheep shearer a horse breaker he drank by night and worked hard in the day
And in every town he had a different woman variety is the spice of life they say
The money he worked hard for he spent freely on sex starved young rural women and the beer
He lived a rugged lifestyle of adventure and his type of man a dying breed 'twould appear.

Big Matt he was a handsome dark haired fellow and women fell for him in a big way
And he made love to many young and pretty women but a week at most with any one his longest stay
He left behind some broken hearted females of the settled lifestyle he did not wish to know
For he was as restless as the brimming river that towards the coast lands and salt water flow.

For ten years in the outback of New South Wales and Queensland he journeyed in his old ute up and down
And as a horse breaker and a gun shearer one well might say he earned some renown
He broke the spirit of the bucking brumbies and he was one who never took a fall
And when old bush men talk of great horse breakers big Matt is one they always do recall.

Big Matt was thirty when the reaper claimed him when he drove his ute quite drunk it has been said
He veered into the line of the oncoming traffic and a semi trailer he met head to head
The semi trailer driver could not stop there was a loud bang
and the mighty big Matt he died instantly
And the stories of his great outback adventures are now part of bush lore and history.

As a nineteen year old he left the Strezlecki Ranges and he headed north towards Queensland and the sun
And as a horse breaker and a gun shearer in the vast outback
great respect he won
And one might say of Matt he had his wishes since he did not live for to grow old and gray
He worked hard, drank hard and made love to many women, variety is the spice of life they say.