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The Picture Writer
Robert Raftery
Publisher: Boolarong Press
Format: softback
ISBN: 0646332503
Product Id: 1904
Price: $25.50
Price includes GST, post and handling within Australia
The Picture Writer - Home, Heroes, Humanity and The Bush.
Robert Raftery is the author of the poem read by Laurie Lawrence on
Channel Seven's Sunrise –
GIVE THE FEAR THE FLICK
by Robert Raftery
I've had a guzzler's gutful, of all this terror talk,
I think it's time to settle down, and give the fear...the fork,
Let's take a long hard look around at things that pump the heart.
And thank the God Almighty we were picked to play a part.
Just suck it in...the majesty...as the Maker had intended,
Sweet love of life...the kids...the wife...the Banjo's "Vision
Splendid",
Things are happening around us, that we see but can't control,
Let's give the fear the flick mates...don't keep it on a roll.
Let's keep the billies boiling, 'cross this great South Land we share,
Stuff the strife...log onto life...as we Advance Australia Fair.
Our nation's never learned to beg...to fetch...or stay...or sit,
And Fifteen "mill's" a lot to spend, to fund a terror kit.
But just take a look around you...let her mansions fill your eyes,
If paradise were put on earth...this place would take first prize.
See...dinkum awesome Aussies don't put their lives on hold,
Let 's give the fear the flick...and mates...let's go
mates...go!...for
gold.
Laurie Lawrence penned the foreward for Robert
and remarks..."Early in
1996 I was to meet a man who was to have a profound influence on me. I
used to fancy myself as a bit of a modern day Henry Lawson, but since
meeting RR the Picture Writer, I have become poetically 'inert'. I
invited Robert to write a series of pieces for the Atlanta Olympics,
including "We're Goin' for Gold", "Keepers of the
Flame" and "Life's a
Beach, Volleyball". Robert also wrote "Kids Alive, Do the
Five" for the
toddler drowning awareness program I conducted for the Queensland
Health
Department. These poems feature in the book of verse."
Laurie Lawrence.
A RACE APART
By Robert Raftery
Australia’s Picture Writer
Fear must not consume us, so… let’s punch its searchlights out,
Don’t let its toxic humus cloud our minds with dread and doubt,
Don’t let its turgid drums of war mask the magic boom of the
breakers’ roar,
The laughing eyes of our Aussie kids; let’s put the fear, mates, on
the
skids.
There are those who’d like to shut us down, and crush our way of
life,
They’d like to siphon off that spirit that we’ve forged through
times of
strife,
That thing we’ve loved and nurtured, for from the very start,
We were built from a part of every race, that’s why we’re A Race
Apart.
Our nation’s never learned to beg… to fetch… to stay… or sit.
And fifteen mill’s a lot to spend, to fund a terror kit,
Let’s just say “G’day” in the usual way… that usually does
the trick,
And like birds of a feather… let’s all stand together, and Let’s
Give
Fear the Flick.
We’re big on mateship… but there’s a whole lot more,
We’re the culture of the cricket, the family and the corner store,
And when the big winds fan the fire storm… we touch the charcoal
tears
That stream down the firefighters’ faces… and through the ranks of
the
volunteers.
And when the fleet’s dismasted… and pure guts… is the engine
driver
When a mate is trapped deep underground… then that scream breaks
forth…
“Survivor!”
When the blood of the wattle stains a foreign
foam,
We’re a force unmatched, ‘cause they’ve picked on home.
It’s heaven sent, that precious scent… when the eucalypt blends
with the
wattle,
Mates, it’s the greatest perfume in the
world… don’t keep it in a bottle,
Let’s just say “G’day” in the usual way… that usually does
the trick,
‘Till the big wrongs are righted… let’s all stand united, to
Give the
Fear the Flick.
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