THE MAIL TIN
by Monty Edwards
Way out west, where willows weep
By creek beds cracked and dry,
A mail tin stands atop a post
Beneath a cloudless sky.
The homestead sits behind a hill:
The mail tin far from view,
But there, round ten, a song is heard
And you may sing it too.
It’s time to put the billy on.
It’s time to fetch the mail!
It’s time to catch a kangaroo
And swing it by its tail!
How is it that the farmer’s wife
Can sing this silly song?
She sounds so sure the mail has come,
But what if she is wrong?
The farmhands stop, lay down their tools.
The youngest mounts his horse.
He rides away toward the road
To get the mail, of course!
It’s time to put the billy on.
It’s time to fetch the mail!
It’s time to catch a kangaroo
And swing it by its tail!
The farmer’s wife saw rising dust.
She heard the rumbling truck.
Her eyes and ears said: “There’s the mail!”
It wasn’t just good luck.
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Now years have passed. The mail tin’s gone
That stood through heat and hail.
Not once they caught a kangaroo,
Nor swung it by its tail!
Monty Edwards