The emus formed a football team <br />Up Walgett way; <br />Their dark-brown sweaters were a dream <br />But kangaroos would sit and scream <br />To watch them play. <br /> <br />'Now, butterfingers,' they would call, <br />And such-like names; <br />The emus couldn't hold the ball <br />- They had no hands - but hands aren't all <br />In football games. <br /> <br />A match against the kangaroos <br />They played one day. <br />The kangaroos were forced to choose <br />Some wallabies and wallaroos <br />That played in grey. <br /> <br />The rules that in the West prevail <br />Would shock the town; <br />For when a kangaroo set sail <br />An emu jumped upon his tail <br />And fetched him down. <br /> <br />A whistler duck as referee <br />Was not admired. <br />He whistled so incessantly <br />The teams rebelled, and up a tree <br />He soon retired. <br /> <br />The old marsupial captain said, <br />'It's do or die!' <br />So down the ground like fire he fled <br />And leaped above an emu's head <br />And scored a try. <br /> <br />Then shouting, 'Keep it on the toes!' <br />The emus came. <br />Fierce as the flooded Bogan flows <br />They laid their foemen out in rows <br />And saved the game. <br /> <br />On native pear and Darling pea <br />They dined that night: <br />But one man was an absentee: <br />The whistler duck - their referee - <br />Had taken flight.<br /><br />Banjo Paterson<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/fur-and-feathers-2/
