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Collected Poems

Down on my Luck

page 175

Down on my Luck

Wandering above a sea of glass
in the soft April weather,
wandering through the yellow grass
where the sheep stand and blether;
roaming the cliffs in the morning light,
hearing the gulls that cry there,
not knowing where I'll sleep tonight,
not much caring either.

              I haven't got a stiver
              the tractor's pinched my job,
              I owe the bar a fiver
              and the barman fifteen bob;
              the good times are over,
              the monkey-man has foreclosed,
              the woman has gone with the drover,
              not being what I supposed.

              I used to get things spinning,
              I used to dress like a lord,
              mostly I came out winning,
              but all that's gone by the board;
              my pants have lost their creases,
              I've fallen down on my luck,
              the world has dropped to pieces
              everything's come unstuck.

Roaming the cliffs in the morning light,
hearing the gulls that cry there,
not knowing where I'll sleep tonight,
not much caring either,
wandering above a sea of glass
in the soft April weather,
wandering through the yellow grass
close to the end of my tether.