I was down the Riverina, knockin' 'round the towns a bit, <br />And occasionally resting with a schooner in me mitt, <br />And on one of these occasions, when the bar was pretty full <br />And the local blokes were arguin' assorted kind of bull, <br />I heard a conversation, most peculiar in its way. <br />It's only in Australia you would hear a joker say: <br /> <br />"Howya bloody been, ya drongo, haven't seen ya fer a week, <br />And yer mate was lookin' for ya when ya come in from the creek. <br />'E was lookin' up at Ryan's, and around at bloody Joe's, <br />And even at the Royal, where 'e bloody NEVER goes". <br /> <br />And the other bloke says "Seen 'im? Owed 'im half a bloody quid. <br />Forgot to give it back to him, but now I bloody did - <br />Could've used the thing me bloody self. Been off the bloody booze, <br />Up at Tumba-bloody-rumba shootin' kanga-bloody-roos." <br /> <br />Now the bar was pretty quiet, and everybody heard <br />The peculiar integration of this adjectival word, <br />But no-one there was laughing, and me - I wasn't game, <br />So I just sits back and lets them think I spoke the bloody same. <br /> <br />Then someone else was interested to know just what he got, <br />How many kanga-bloody-roos he went and bloody shot, <br />And the shooting bloke says "Things are crook - <br />the drought's too bloody tough. <br />I got forty-two by seven, and that's good e-bloody-nough." <br /> <br />And, as this polite rejoinder seemed to satisfy the mob, <br />Everyone stopped listening and got on with the job, <br />Which was drinkin' beer, and arguin', and talkin' of the heat, <br />Of boggin' in the bitumen in the middle of the street, <br />But as for me, I'm here to say the interesting piece of news <br />Was Tumba-bloody-rumba shootin' kanga bloody-roos. <br /> <br /> <br />John O'Brien (aka Nino Culotta) <br /><br /><br />John O'Brien<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/tumba-bloody-rumba/
