the barefoot bard Poet Rhyme

Notes About The Poem

Eighteen FallenTrees delay the High School Bus

Background

This is a true story that I recall from about 1960. We spent four hours a day in travel to gain an "education" Riding on the bus for so long was not much fun . The girls behaved
 reasonably well and they were directed to sit at the back of the bus, the boys whose behaviour left a lot to be desired were directed to fill the front seats so they were under closer scrutiny. Boredom  from so many hours of travel probably caused a lot of misbehaviour. There were probably twenty students board the bus within a twenty kilometre distance from the town. With pickups along the route there may be sixty or seventy students by the time we reached school.
A couple of significant memories come to mind. One boy was evicted from the bus one afternoon about twenty five kilometres from his home. When the bus arrived in town without his presence there was quite some concern. A search party went looking for the absent boy. Apparently he climbed trees and kept hiding from the search party for some hours .  Wouldn't the insurance companies have a field day with that nowadays.
Another quick tree story.  I had intended to write a poem about this event but much easier by prose.
This time the bus was travelling from school toward home. At around five o.clock in the afternoon we are delayed by a vehicle straddled over a fallen tree. The driver and his wife were an older couple not familiar with the area. They had been travelling in the same direction as us and had encountered a fallen tree which blocked their progress. Having no means to remove the fallen tree had turned around. In the meantime the tree on which their vehicle was stranded had fallen . They were stuck between the two. To try and alleviate the problem they had built up rocks either side of the trunk and attempted to drive across. Having an axe on the bus and plenty of boy power to lift the car the situation was solved


EIGHTEEN TREES DELAY THE BUS

The High school bus daily leaves at seven
it's a two hour journey to arrive at school on time
There are regular stops to pick up students all along the way
most days all runs smoothly, everything is fine

There's been heavy rain, strong winds through this wintry night
It's morning, the rain is only sprinkling but strong winds continue to persist
It's heavily overcast, it's a dull and murky light

The day begins as a replica of every past school day
we travel through farmland along a narrow bitumen road
Half an hour has passed, sealed road is left behind
it's now onto gravel, into bush, for the first delaying episode

Through the night a tree has fallen, blocks our progress
to continue the tree must be removed to make the roadway clear
No chain saws way back then. A well honed axe is always kept upon the bus
the driver cuts a vee the chips begin to fly. It's through. We give a rousing cheer

The journey recommences seems we're back to normal
but looming up ahead is another fallen tree
Sixteen encores more of trees across the road
Finally the last one cut, the bus is running free

We're out of the bush back once again amongst some farms
the usual travellers we pick up, none now in sight, we're running very late
I finally check my wrist watch. Three hours behind time 
when we reach the High school gate

Another rousing cheer for that High school bus driver
who could skilfully wield that well honed axe
Now deserved a well earned time of rest
sit down upon a comfy chair perhaps lay down and just relax

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