THE  HODGSON-HORSESHOE HIKE ABOUT

                                Our  local  LandCare  group  had  planned

                                    An  inspection  tour  today ,

                                I  thought  I ‘ d  like  to  tag  along ,

                                    See  what  they  had  to  say .

                                Sharing ,  caring  for  the  land ,

                                    Ideals  worth  handing  on .

                                But  someone  could ‘ve  warned  the  trip

                                    Would  be  a  marathon !

                                We  climbed  up  hills ,  we  slid  down  banks ,

                                    The  cold  wind  numbed  our  senses .

                                Shreds  of  clothes  and  bits  of  us

                                    Were  left  on  barbwire  fences .

                                We  looked  at  dams ,  we  looked  at  creeks ,

                                    We  studied  grass  and  trees .

                                Water  oozed  around  our  feet ,

                                    And  mud  came  to  our  knees .

                                Tails  up ,  heads  down ,  we  checked  the  plots ,

                                    Where  pasture  trials  were  sown .

                                The  greenest ,  tallest  plants  I  saw

                                    Were  weeds - I  might  have  known !

                                Conversation  in  the  bus

                                    Was  quite  an  education .

                                Patterson ‘s  Curse  or  St  John ‘s  Wort !

                                    A  nasty  situation .

                                They  talked  of  sheep ,  they  talked  of  wool ,

                                    Discussed  the  many  habits ,

                                Of  dogs ,  and  cows ,  and pigs ,  and  chooks ,

                                    And  ferret’s  chasing  rabbits .

                                I  learned   where  foxes  went  to  ground ,

                                    And  where  the  best  spots  were  for  fishin ‘

                                The  problems  of  the  world  were  solved

                                    Without  one  politician !

                                Now ,  if  you‘re  fit  as  a  mallee  bull

                                    And  have  a  day  to  spare ,

                                You‘ll  learn  a  lot  from  LandCare  blokes ,

                                    They‘ll  love  to  see  you  there .