Changing Times

“Riding a bus in Adelaide, South Australia and thinking about this and that, I wrote this poem on the back of my shopping list. I felt grateful for men of God who stand up for what is good and right. ”

What was it like in the early days when pioneers opened the land?
Did the challenge and the open space make up for tragedy’s hand?
    They had it hard, those early folk who struggled to survive;
    To work the land, to pass the test, and just to stay alive.
There were the weak, there were the strong, and those that stood between;
The elements beat down on all, and harsh was the early scene.
    Today we have our problems too; a different brand of trials,
    Of rush and bustle, crowds and worse – cities that sprawl for miles.
Tenement blocks like rabbit warrens, spilling over with human life,
Filthy streets where bad men lurk, with fear and poverty rife.
    The mental strain of our rat-race pace is very hard to bear.
    To live and compete in this modern age and wheeze in the smog-
    choked air.
But medicine and science too forge on at a rapid pace,
Preserving life and easing pain and even exploring space.
    So of the two, it seems to me, we have the better chance,
    It’s what we do with what we have that makes the world advance.
They had a rugged road to walk; ours is a smoother way,
But strife and trouble will always stalk mankind in any day.
    It’s what man is, and does and thinks, that’s all we can compare.
    And every age has noble men, the honest, true and fair.
And in this modern age of ours, with drugs and war and sorrow,
God sends great men to guide us through, into a bright tomorrow.