One of the highlights of my birthday was the reading of my
birthday poem. Jeff – ‘poetry on demand’
– has the wonderful gift of being able to write pertinent verse with a delightful
touch of humour. My poem has 19 verses
so I won’t reproduce all of it here but I can’t resist sharing the first and
last verses and a couple of the more complimentary from the middle.
Or, at least, that’s where we got to know him.
His life is so full, some would say to the brim.
He was born long ago, some three score years and ten
In the land of the kilt, in a time back when
Many families were uprooting their past
Migrating to Australia, a land so vast.
On to Wollongong High, where the smart kids went.
He knuckled down there, his time was well-spent.
He played some sport, the usual things,
A good high jumper, in his legs he had springs.
John took to teaching like a man possessed
Teaching in many states to follow this quest
From Hobart to Townsville and some in-between
As a teacher and headmaster, he was keen.
John has an information obsession
Adding an iPad to his growing collection
He confesses to being an iPad nerd
At seventy, some might say that’s absurd.
John is a man of many talents, for sure
A gentleman, good husband and father and more
If you can say John calls you his good mate
You can consider yourself lucky, but wait …
There is one thing that I’d like you all to do
Please charge your glasses and stand up from your pew
Happy Birthday, John, may your future be bright
We all admire you greatly, we think you’re all right.
Of course, I much prefer Jeff’s and will treasure it.
There is a
blogologist of some renown
Who hails
from Tasmania, in Dilston Town.Or, at least, that’s where we got to know him.
His life is so full, some would say to the brim.
He was born long ago, some three score years and ten
In the land of the kilt, in a time back when
Many families were uprooting their past
Migrating to Australia, a land so vast.
On to Wollongong High, where the smart kids went.
He knuckled down there, his time was well-spent.
He played some sport, the usual things,
A good high jumper, in his legs he had springs.
John took to teaching like a man possessed
Teaching in many states to follow this quest
From Hobart to Townsville and some in-between
As a teacher and headmaster, he was keen.
John has an information obsession
Adding an iPad to his growing collection
He confesses to being an iPad nerd
At seventy, some might say that’s absurd.
John is a man of many talents, for sure
A gentleman, good husband and father and more
If you can say John calls you his good mate
You can consider yourself lucky, but wait …
There is one thing that I’d like you all to do
Please charge your glasses and stand up from your pew
Happy Birthday, John, may your future be bright
We all admire you greatly, we think you’re all right.
© Jeff 10-2-2013
The last poem I had written about me was at our High School
graduation in 1959. Everybody’s place
card had a couple of lines of doggerel written by somebody on the organising
committee. At that time I affected the
latest fashion of desert boots with ripple soles. (What was I thinking?) The poem went thus:
He rides the
waves of rubber, around the school he scoots
If John
Christie had a family crest, ‘twould be of desert boots.Of course, I much prefer Jeff’s and will treasure it.
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