The Passing of Stumpy Shore

[bushpoet]

The Constable had found the man 'round five on Friday morn;
Apparently while on his shift from midnight through 'till dawn.
Two youths, with blood stains on their clothes, detained drunk in the park,
Disclosed they'd rolled some homeless bloke, sometime just after dark.
Now Sergeant in this country town I'd lived round here for years;
Observed some pretty callous things, but this left me in tears.
The aged and fragile frame lay slumped there in a pool of mud
And through his snow white hair and beard was clotted, crimson blood.

The Constable looked up and said, "There fam'ly we can call?
For surely someone knows him Sarge. You know the bloke at all?"
"He's know 'round here as Stumpy lad; been here a year or two.
Came out way back in sixty-three to work on Beetaloo.
Then worked his way to overseer and often came to town;
Was captain of the football team; a sportsman of renown.
He married pretty Sheila Clark and when his son was four,
They called conscripts for Vietnam, which saw him go to war."

"A war of conflicts that would scar and traumatise the mind;
Confusing, cruel, and futile acts some failed to leave behind.
Inherent post traumatic stress was that war's legacy,
Together with the stump you see attached below his knee.
The old man lying there my lad, is testimony too,
A life spent fighting guilt and fear his mind could not subdue.
Poor Sheila shared his sleepless nights, the flashbacks and his pain,
But in the end she lost the fight as Stumpy left again."

"He camped in squats around the town and drowned his pain with wine,
Withdrew into his own quiet world, content now to resign,
From all of life's inequities, the company of folk,
But all the town saw Stumpy Shore, a harmless poor old bloke.
His Sheila raised their only son, who still lives here today;
Who cared for her through all those years, until she passed away.
She'd told him of the man she'd known, before he went to war;
So in his mind he held no grudge against old Stumpy Shore.

"In fact one day down by the creek while Stumpy washed his socks,
He saved a lad from drowning, as he'd dived onto some rocks.
The boy he saved that very day was his own grandson Kim;
Ironical, I guess eh lad, that Stumpy should save him."
"You know Sarge when I found the man, I thought him just a bum.
I'd judged the man on what I saw, but now I feel quite numb.
The facts are mighty sob'ring Sarge and now I feel real bad.
You reckon we can find his son?" - "You're talking to him lad."

The experiences of integration back into society by many of Australia's returned soldiers were often only known by close family members, if that. Whether the result of a more open-minded view today, the plight of veterans lives after Vietnam has been more of an open book. Their stories are quite sobering, touching the lives of both city and country folk. Lest we forget.

[QuietAstronomer]

Well done. Epic, to be sure.
A story that can likely be told in every language in virtually every nation on earth.
A story that should never be forgotten.

Thanks for this.

QA

[bushpoet]

G'day QA. There were obviously many Stumpy Shores throughout the earth and I guess it helps us never to judge a book by it's cover. I was inspired to write this after seeing some youth who went through a homeless persons belongings and found some metho and tipped it on him and lit him up. He was a Vietnam Veteran and it brought a tear to my eye. I felt that young people needed to understand. Thanks for sharing.

[everhopeful]

Welcome to TPS bushpoet.
This is an excellent piece of poetry, and while it is driven by the narrative it is most pleasing to see how you have controlled the rhythm and the rhyme, letting it really throw us into the story. The tale itself, as already pointed out, could be taken from many different places on earth, yet you have made it your own, and the concluding stanza was deeply poignant while delivering one of the morals of the tale - however, there was so much more to this than that.
Much admired work.

[bushpoet]

G'day everhopeful. Appreciate your comments and thank you for sharing my write.


Bushpoet

[jsol]

A pertinent story of compassion and awareness that I enjoyed reading. Also a piece of well-written poetry.

[ladymaybebaby]

What a wonderful piece! Congratulations on the spotlight, it is well deserved! You have a true talent for storytelling, I was so lost in your words, I got that same feeling when I read a book. It's really just divine from start to finish. Even the rhyming was the perfect touch! And to think you held on to that scheme for the entire piece is just amamzing! This was one great read, thank you for sharing it!!!

-LMB
xoxo

[bushpoet]

G'day jsol, I appreciate your sharing Stumpy's story with me. Compassion is one ingredient you can never have to much of.

[bushpoet]

G'day ladymaybebaby. Helping folk, especially young ones, to appreciate that the old saying ... you can never judge a book by its cover ... is applicable to people as well. Thank you for sharing this story with me.

[bushpoet]

A well known icon of Australian rhyming poetry was Henry Lawson and he often wrote about when the World was Wide. Today the internet has brought and end to that era as we can share our works with folk all around the world and in an instant. It also saddens me to see nations feuding with each other and sacrificing their people over cultural differences. I find the sharing of our cultures through our poetry is enlightening and wish to thank TPS for kindly spotlighting my poem. As we say Downunder ... goodonya mate and have a ripper day.

[inflames]

This is lovely. Very touching. Congrats on your spotlight!

[bushpoet]

G'day inflams. Glad it touch the heart strings. Appreciate your sharing it.

[SirFleshwound]

True colonial quality oozes from this work. Henry Lawson infused, yet a tinge of Kipling!? A modern classic perhaps. Well done on the spotlight.

[bushpoet]

G'day SirFleshwound. Us old Colonials enjoy sharing a bit of our culture and appreciate your kind words Sir.

[nortan223]

I love this bush style poetry - It says it as it is, and the rhythms are so distinctive. I've been a great fan of Bob Magor for some years now and have quite a library of Australian bush poetry. Congratulations on your Spotlight and look forward to reading more of your work.
--Norman--

[tangerinepie]

This was a very different and interesting write, which offered up images of tragedies that are sobering,I enjoyed the style and construction and you brought it to life with wonderful detail.Well deserved spotlight..T..

[bushpoet]

G'day nortan, I've worked with Bob Magor over the years and gotten to know him well and appreciate you're sharing my work.

[bushpoet]

G'day tangerinepie, I guess I've favoured the rhyming verse as I enjoyed the works of Lawson and Paterson who shared the culture of my country and I also like their storytelling style. The Australian bush ballad is also a way to share my stories using lyrics and a melody with a pick strum guitar background. Thanks for sharing it with me.

[Patdolan83]

Massive write with a flow which makes it absolutely no effort at all the read....very well done

[bushpoet]

G'day Patdolan, my thanks to my mentors for their guidance and their reward is your comments good sir. Thank you for sharing Stumpy's story with me.