Australian Poems That Would Boggle A Bull

FARM SAFETY Our grandson's with us for a while, he comes from interstate; A clever little bloke he is, although he's only eight. As I'm working round the farm, or busy in the shed, He's there beside me, watching me, or hearing what I've said. But, worse than that, he picks me up on things I don't do right: "Hey! Pa!" he says, "You're grinding steel, you must protect your sight!" I grab the goggles off the shelf, and, with a "Thank you, son," I carry on, more safely, with the job I've just begun. I used my chainsaw yesterday up in our patch of scrub, But, just before I went up there, I saw the little cub Come running out the farmhouse door - he called to me, "Hey! Pa! Your earmuffs, or so Grandma says, are somewhere in the car!" I muttered words beneath my breath, and grabbed the wretched things; But then my little grandson, Ben, held up a piece of string. "You'll need this, Pa, to tie up Jed, while driving on the track, You know that many dogs are hurt by falling off the back." The dog looked somewhat mystified, he'd not been tied before, But he had fallen more than once, and pulled up rather sore. "Oh, thank you, lad," I said to Ben, and drove off in the ute, Thinking how the little bloke's incredibly astute. This morning I was splitting wood, and guess who's on the go? "Hey! Pa! You've got your slippers on, that isn't safe, you know!" "I'll only be a minute, son; I'm taking extra care!" And then the rotten handle broke, and caught me unaware. So now I'm at the doctor's, and my foot is pretty crook, He's busy putting stitches in, and I don't want to look. But here beside me, watching all, is Ben, the know-all nipper. "I told Pa that it wasn't safe to cut wood in his slippers!"