The Feral Ute Poem by Don Stratford

The Feral Ute



A feral ute they claim it is
But it wasn’t always so
It once was clean and shiny
It was new and all the go

There was gleaming paint and chrome work
No dirt could there be found
Not even in the ash tray
Today, that’s sacred ground

I drove it really carefully
As you always do
And always went out of my way
To drive around the poo

Inevitably one fateful day
A scratch it did appear
And as I bawled me eyes out Mum said
“There, it’s alright dear”

By and bye more marks appeared
And slowly over time
Just one more scratch or dent you see
Didn’t seem like such a crime

Now down the track as years went on
It fell into a mess
So I sent it to the workshop
Where they’d clean it up, I guess

It came out looking mighty fine
And drove and went real good
But then again for what it cost
I suppose it bloody should

Years lingered on for this old girl
And over all the while
We re-place-ed the this and that
And did it with a smile

And again the dents and scratches came
All the while there getting worse
But it got beyond the fixin’ stage
No more dollars in me purse

So to the scrub we took y’see
Down tracks and creeks aghast
There were times we almost lost it
We were going so bloody fast

Because we drove her very hard
And hadn’t really cared
The old girl she got knocked around
No panel could be spared

The doors were shut with wire ties
No springs were in the seat
We had to bash the mudguards out
It wasn’t lookin’ neat

Off to the ute mus-ter we went
We were lookin’ for a prize
She went in with the ferule utes
To try that on for size

We hadn’t any bloody hope
We thought we were all cursed
There was no one more surprised than us
When the old girl she got first

The trophy now has pride of place
To be ad-mired by one and all
It’s placed in a secure spot
No chance that it will fall

She’s all done now, she’s had her day
And no more can she do
I’ll put her out to pasture now
Down near the outside loo

So now she’s down behind the shed
Looking up towards the house
So she can see me anytime
And think of times so “grouse”

So, it’s back down to the shop I trudge
To see what was on show
To buy a clean and shiny ute
That’s new and all the go

Don Stratford © 23 / 2 / 2005

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