Child Hood Memories Poem by debbie gregory

When I was five to the city we went
a house we lived in instead of a tent
with walls and ceilings and floors of cement
no more we had a loo out side
behind a gum tree we would hide
to do our buisness in the bush
cause now theres a dunny that flushes with one push

With yards and grass an fences all round
the great outback is no longer our play ground
the rabbits we hunted are far away
no more will we see them from this day

We were told it was schooling that we need
to learn our sums and to read
the bush is no place for us to live
for the city has so much more to give

In the bush there was no doctor close at hand
it's just miles an miles of flat open land
in the city there's schools and shops and things
it's the place to make us feel like kings
with lawns to mow and gardens to tend
it's enough to send you right round the bend

In the bush all you did was walk for miles
you would'nt sit around and end up with piles
you would play from morning till night
when bed time came you never put up a fight
in the bush there was always some thing to do
explore a tree or swim in a dam
or go to a station and watch them make ham

No floors to wash, No carpets to clean,
No tv to watch, No movies on the big screen

Just the stars in the sky and the noise of the birds
To describe it...icant find the words...
The peace and the quiet the solitude and the fresh air
The smog and the noise i just cannot bare

The hustle and bustle the rudeness and snobs
The fast moving pace the drunks and the slobs
The robbing and fighting the kidnapping and fear
In the bush you heard stories, it was never this near

In the city your knocked down and your money is theirs
Nobody see's anything and nobody cares
In the bush they would'nt survive
For word would get around and the local cop would arrive
A search party he would get
But by now a local's taken care of you i bet
for locals stretch far and wide
and the bad people have no where to hide

To visit a neighbour was a two day drive
with the kids in the back and the misses along side
with nothing to see but flies and dust
you prayed the old jeep held together
for there was'nt much left of her except for rust

arrive we would all safe and sound
with eyes full of dust we'd look around

To our freinds we would run
it's off to the dam to have some fun
in a old tyre we would roll into the water
if you've never tried it you really oughter

the fun we would have all that day
until night we would be on our way
on our trip home back to our tents miles away

Oh! for those days of childhood thoughts
for now i have kids of my own and look what the city has brought

Stereo's computors, lies and deceit
greed and corruption and defeat
so much for living like kings

Now im a mother with kids of my own
with thoughts of the bush I just sit and groan
OH! how I wish we could go pack
and be off to the peace and solitude of the great outback....