He was old and lean,
even rangy,
perhaps a little
demented,
and rode an old
pushbike
around our little,
country town.
Some called him our
“geriatric biker”.
Few really knew him.
When he died
I was asked
to conduct the funeral.
I invited a friend, a
“local”,
to research his eulogy.
She unearthed
old photographs of a
proud man,
wearing a ten gallon
hat,
sitting tall in the
saddle
on a station horse.
Our geriatric biker
had managed
some of the largest
stations
in Australia.
We took him
to our bush cemetery
on the hill behind the
town,
overlooking the
seemingly endless
arid northern plain
where he had lived and
worked.
By request of the
family
he was buried
to the country song
“Leave Him In The Longyard”.
"Leave Him In The Longyard" is one of the many songs
made popular by the late Slim Dusty.
