The Ex Shearer

The years of physical hard work on him does show
A work strained back has him walking stiff and slow
In his late sixties he will not shear sheep again
Only memories of his shearing days with him now remain
Of his better years when he travelled far and wide
On the highways and the byways of the outback countryside
For him in his working lifetime never an easy pay
He often did shear two hundred head a day
Back in the days when his hair was light brown
He enjoyed his weekends in the pubs of many a country town
He does not have children or never had a long term partner or wife
Women they came to and went from his life
On a retirement pension he lives on his own
And of better years in his life he surely has known.