OzVMX Forum
Clubroom => General Discussion => Topic started by: relfy on February 02, 2014, 01:35:17 pm
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I was saddened this morning to see on Facebook, that another battling farmer in Australia took his life after having to put his remaining starving cattle out of their misery. In order to bring light to the plight of those like him, (who are still battling) I ask that you share this poem in honour of all of those struggling through hardships on the land in hope that they too will find the 'Faith' to carry on and I thank you all in advance for your help.
Without Faith
He looks out upon the baron land
And sighs a breath of pain
His hopes, his dreams, his livelihood
Been crushed from lack of rain.
His finances diminished
His stock a dwindled band
And he feels like a helpless onlooker
As life slips through his fingers like sand.
A young man of forty deplenished
Though still young he is ravaged by stress
His marriage and bond with his children
Is at crisis point, put bluntly, a mess.
How can he be all that he needs to?
How can he give more when he’s spent?
Physically and emotionally
To the grindstone his life has been bent.
Inheriting the family property
Twenty years of keeping tradition alive
Shouldering debt and commitments
Now he finds he has no strength to strive.
His childhood sweetheart Martha
With darling children Lilly and Tom
Have travelled away for the weekend
To visit her sickly mum.
With trembling hand he holds the pencil
That signed the letter from the bank
And as he wrote to wife and children
His heart and spirit sank.
“These words I write, I could not speak
Or look you in the face
The man I was, I am no more
I’ve neither strength, nor pride, nor grace.
Martha, dearest Martha
I have failed you in this life
Though I have toiled and worked relentlessly
I know I have let down my darling wife.
Too proud to stick my hand out
And accept charity from others
Too stubborn to leave this blasted block
And now I feel strangled and smothered.
I promised for good and for bad
I promised till death do us part
I promised to protect and care for you
I’m so sorry, down deep to my heart.
I have no more to offer
I have no more to give
And my final wish my darling
Is that you will truly live.
Move back to town with your father
Let him care for you and our kin
And please, alway’s remember I love you
And please, please forgive me my sin.
My gorgeous little Lilly
The apple of my eye
Remember our good times together
When you think of me, smile, please don’t cry.
Young Tom, you’re the man of the house now
Take care of our special girls
And heed the mistakes of your father
Oh my little man, I wish you the world.
You children have been a blessing
Please do not carry blame
My fate is not your doing
Please carry on my name”
Through tears of pain and anguish
His saddened eyes look out
To a calf without his mother
She too been struck down by the drought.
His letter not quite finished
But his duty must be done
He puts down his trembling pencil
And replaces it with gun.
The chamber ready loaded
Prepared for fateful deed
But as he looked upon the sickened calf
He felt this beast had greater need.
He would empty out the chamber
To protect the calf from a death more grim
Reload the gun, switch off the safety
And do the same for him.
A swift shot to the temple
Was the way he’d alway’s done
So he walked to head off lonely calf
Beneath the beating son.
The calf was struck with sickness
Snotty nose and wrought with scour
He’d gone without a drink of feed
For many sun scorched hour
He ran his hand along calf’s bony back
Laced with scabbed skin from the sun
Wiped the tears away from bloodshot eyes
And raised the trembling gun.
The calf, two weeks of age and stunted
Weak and battered down by life
Surges forward, head butts the farmer
He would not die without some strife.
“Come back here you foolish youngster
You’ll be better off this way
Your fates like mine, we’ve both been doomed
Let’s end it here today”
He jogs up to the calf’s hind end
And grabs him by the tail
Then the calf kicks him in the stomach
And with a strengthened run set sail.
Over the dam bank down to the moistened earth
Where the water used to lay
He trotted out towards the middle
Then got stuck, that’s where he stayed.
The farmer trudged out through the mud and slush
And sank down to his knees
Placed the barrel tip to calf’s young head
Then the trigger he began to squeeze.
The calf threw his head back left and right
Knocked the gun from out of his hands
His body weak, yet his eye was bright
And it seemed he had other plans.
Within the stare of this young sick calf
He could feel the heart of a fighter
And he shook his head at his own disbelief
Then he cuddled the little blighter.
As he walked from the dam with the calf in his arms
He knew that he too must fight
For though life was grim it was better to live
For his children, himself and his wife.
He took the calf inside and bathed him
Then set him down beside the fire
That he started with the letter
Then he heard the crunch of tyres.
His family had come back home
He welcomed them with joy
And said “Oh it’s great to see you all
Come meet the little boy”
The children were ecstatic
As they fed and cuddled calf
Their dad had named him Faith
And they couldn’t help but laugh.
The family grew back together
Moved to town and changed careers
And if you pass their front yard, say hi to Faith
Their healthy full grown steer.
Written by Guy McLean
In honour of the men, women and children on the land
fighting hard in endless days of drought and difficult times.
Copyright Guy McLean February 2008.
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Fantastic Relfy, a beautiful poem and great message.
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Great poem, and unfortunately the drought is back again in many parts of Aust.The Aussie farmer, probably the last true dinky di hard working blokes around.
We in the city would be stuffed without them. I wonder how we in the city can help them apart from buying Aussie.?
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Great comments however I believe until both the Government and the A CCC get some balls to take on the retail giants farmers in Australia will continue to get screwed , Depression is certainly not just a farmer issue it is something that is very widespread and we need to watch out for our mates.
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I know his desperation. Thanks for sharing.
<has to rush off to read "Clancy of the overflow">
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Thanks Relfy.....a relevant poem and an important subject.
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Great poem, and unfortunately the drought is back again in many parts of Aust.The Aussie farmer, probably the last true dinky di hard working blokes around.
We in the city would be stuffed without them. I wonder how we in the city can help them apart from buying Aussie.?
There you go Stephen. As per our conversation the other day, why don't you ride for this cause. I have no doubt people will contribute. If you do it i will kick it off with $100. Go for it.
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Great poem, and unfortunately the drought is back again in many parts of Aust.The Aussie farmer, probably the last true dinky di hard working blokes around.
We in the city would be stuffed without them. I wonder how we in the city can help them apart from buying Aussie.?
There you go Stephen. As per our conversation the other day, why don't you ride for this cause. I have no doubt people will contribute. If you do it i will kick it off with $100. Go for it.
+$100 from me too for an important cause.......
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Steve, that is truly sad news about another farmer seeing no other way out and the poem is both gut wrenching and inspiring. When we spoke on the phone a week or so ago you had a great idea for helping the fight against the ‘black dog’. These terrible disorders shatter far too many lives and families and most people have been touched either directly or through a friend or family member. You still have not floated your great idea here so I’ll start the ball rolling as it has merit.
The Australian 4 day Enduro is coming to the NSW Dungog area on 12-16 August 2014. It would be a fantastic opportunity to raise money for the Black Dog Institute and also raise the profile of Classic Dirt Bikes.
The possibility of running either a club or state teams challenge would be excellent. Each rider seeking donor sponsors to raise money for each day or each test they complete going toward a great cause. The presence of classic dirt bikes in such a high profile event would also be excellent exposure for our sport.
We could possibly have three person state teams with each team made up an EVO, Pre85 & Pre90 rider. Think of seeing a Maico 490, ’84 KTM & ’87 Husky Auto or some SWMs once again taking part in an A4DE.
Does this idea have merit? Would enough riders be interested? We have only 6 months so time is short.
The whole thing needs a driver and co-ordinator. Even to contact the organisers to see if they would accept the entries and the logistics need planning. The best person for the job is someone with A4DE experience.
I am not an Enduro rider of the past or present but more than happy to assist in any way possible and both Steve and I live reasonably close to Dungog.
If we had even four state teams and each rider raised $500 that would be $6000. Now that is not going to find a cure but it certainly would be inspiring, raise the profile of classic dirt bikes and the ‘Black Dog Institute’ within the wider dirt bike community. All good things
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Put me down for a $100 as well.
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Thanks for the positive feedback and yes Greg is right about the possibility of some VMX guys having a crack at the Aussie 4 day to raise both funds and awareness of male depression, I for one am going to ride the 4 day as it is only 20 mins from where I live .I have been asked by some mates to do it on a modern bike however if we were to get a group of guys that commit to doing it on a VMX bike then I will go with the VMX group and help with fund raising etc . What I think we now need is to see whether anyone is interested in having a go at it , I believe it would be great fun to do something like this with the good people that are involved with VMX but above all doing it for a good cause . Is anybody interested ????
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I'll throw in a quid or two for a great concept and a great awareness cause. Where do we send our money?
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Fantastic idea.
Now to find a decent 89 KDX200 and a way to pay for it... Hmmm. Probably easier just to donate! :)
Seriously, I will be riding this year's A4DE. If there's any way I can help with support/logistics/whatever, then I will.
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I am very interested to make a commitment, but first I need to know more.
Six months to prepare, check.
At beautiful Dungog NSW, check
Is there a capacity class thing for vintage entries?
Do they bikes have to road registered?
What vintage classes does one have a choice of?
Pre-78?
Evo?
Pre-85?
Pre-90?
How does it work? I am optimistic that I could keep myself and a bike running for four days,
as long as I could use moose tubes and not have to do tyre changing duties on the fly?
How does the money raising thing happen?
Do we the competitors door knock for sponsors?
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Heart wrenching poem Relfy. Thanks for highlighting the plight of our farmers and mens depression. Too many people, blokes in particular, are afraid of speaking out if they need help as they see it as some sign of weakness. Seek help if you need it, please. I know I did and it all helps make the days a bit easier.
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I had been talking to Greg from Heaven about the concept a couple of weeks ago and this post I re the farmer and the poem appeared on my wife's facebook so I seen this as an opportunity to put it out there for others to share . I like Greg believe it would not only be helping a great cause but would be a great story and exposure for VMX.
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Black dog can get any one, poor old Auzie great swimmer Ian Thorpe going threw it again now.
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Black dog can get any one, poor old Auzie great swimmer Ian Thorpe going threw it again now.
Cool, maybe we could get him on board to swim my bike across that knarly creek, that Nathan keeps talking about.
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Ok guys this Aussie 4 day idea is going to fly Nathan S has put his hand up so both myself and him are the sole representatives at the moment so with two starters we are going to do it,(more the merrier) so when all is set up (which will be very shortly) all pledges can be fulfilled we will be chasing donations and sponsorship (all going to the cause) right up till the 4 day in August I will keep a tally of the amount we have raised and regularly post updates so everybody can keep track of where it is up to I am currently working with Heaven VMX to finalise details. Relfy
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I'm in for some cabbage Stevo.......great work yourself and Nath.
Finish it on old shitboxes lads.......or I'll burn ya KX ;D ;D ;D
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The thought of taking a hungy off Ted was enough incentive in itself.
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What's with the hungy. You crash and burn real good, I'll tip in more ;D ;D no prob
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Please refer to new topic "RIDERS AGAINST DEPRESSION"
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Well this has sure gone quiet