Notes About The Poem
Memories of my life, from England to Australia
Listen to poem:
A Life Well Lived
A Life Well Lived
by Robert J (Bob) Moore (©2015)
The old man sat at the window, staring into space
people could only wonder, at the smile upon his face
but they had not been where he had been, and behind that wrinkled brow
they could not see what he had seen, or what he was seeing now
He was back again in England, on a cold and frosty day
heading for the Pennines, where he would make his way
into the hills round Kinder Scout, or maybe up Scafell
following the wanderers tracks, and pathways he knew well
He may be back at Gorton Mount, or maybe Spurley Hey
reliving all his schooldays, the learning and the play
Rugby with Pete Hesketh, or football as fullback
but definitely not cricket, too dangerous playing that
Or perhaps he’s back in Gorton, round the Suttons Dwelling Trust
riding bikes out in the rain, till they fell apart with rust
there’s Jack and Cliff, and Keswick, the pals he hung round with
for friendship and companionship which only true friends give.
He’s camping on the Isle of Man, in the August holiday
trying to get a sunburn, to prove he’d been away
and drinking hard with Scottish lads, who congregated there
and we’ll come up and see you, in Glasgow he would swear.
Or again, he’s leaving England, heading for another land
a place where dad had told us, the living would be grand
with sun and sand and lots of work, we’d make our fortune there
and live life to the fullest, with fun, and little care
Now he’s landed in Australia, mam and dad are there
him and his three sisters, standing in the sun shine glare
not knowing how their life will be, or if it will turn out
as dad had promised to us all, but there really was no doubt
this was a cleaner, brighter land, than England had become
his dad had fought in 2 wars, and now he wanted some
place to raise his family, in prosperity and peace
a place where all the worry, and the arguing would cease.
He could not see all of the things that would happen in his life
how he would raise a family, with his Australian wife
they’d drift apart, the kids would grow, and start lives of their own
and now there are grandchildren, and the family has grown
Now he’s thinking of his second wife, who looks after him
he’s not easy to live with, he knows this deep within
she ignores him when he’s cranky, but he loves her more than gold
some say that he has mellowed, others say he just got old
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