A Poem For Pop Poem by Kirstinlouise Oliver

The quiet achiever,
Loved by all,
All loved in return.
The working class man,
Always there to help,
Be it at home, The RSL club,
Or anyone with a broken washing machine,
Who's going to fix them now?
With your passing a hole,
A hole that no-one will ever fill,
The memories that we have,
Each individual,
Each on it's own,
No more will we walk into Nan and Pop's,
To see and hear you, Sitting at the kitchen table,
Smoking a cigarette and drinking your tea,
No more will we sit,
Talking at the family BBQ,
Listening to that laugh, A laugh that is unique,
Unique just like you Pop
But while we have that bird, The galah,
That bloody cough will never fade,
Your grandchildren,
The apple of your eye,
Only after Kate, May and Polly Wong,
Our nicknames are unique and special,
With Weezie, Tasha Lee the bullfrog with his spare tyre, Nahnie, Mandy Mouse or Skinny Minnie, Fat Freddo Frog, Jack or Little Jerry, Blue and the Little Pickannie,
With only two not recieving the priviledge of a nickname,
Growing up on the farm,
You taught us all,
No matter our age,
We all had to help,
To be a team player,
You showed us what work was,
The rewards at the days end,
You taught us many things,
If something was broken,
Don't throw it away, Fix it!
If you couldn't, then no-one could,
From that we are all very independant,
If we couldn't do it, It wasn't worth doing,
The man of very few words,
But the actions of a thousand,
To talk of something you liked,
The thought of us speaking, Think again,
The heartache and shock, Will pass,
But the memories and thoughts,
Wont fade,
To you Pop,
We say goodbye, For now,
But we will meet again,
For a joyous reunion,
We love you,
With the deepth of the deepest ocean.
Love Always.