Charles in Aus.
Well-known Member
[i:b3cd99fdb2][color=blue:b3cd99fdb2]The Grey Soul .
He turned the key one last time ,
the Grey One , his constant companion , shuddered a little, then slept .
He had known others , the Pointers , the Heelers and the Collies , now all passed .
With Irises as blankets to the frost .
They had marked the stages of his life , a young man , a new father
and now the time when all men know their days are short .
The Grey One had been with him for it all till now .
It isn't fair he told his life's mate .
My father's beasts spent their last years in the sun , they retired with grace .
The Grey One has only the corner of the barn , a dust cloth and a gravel floor .
With the resignation of a woman from a life of challenges she replied .
It's a machine father , it's served us well but it has no soul .
No soul ? he muttered , recalling how it had idled so sweetly after oil changes .
How swift it had seemed, when after a crop that had paid the co-op , the school and for Deb dresses had stretched to a sleek new set of tyres .
No soul ? With a shudder the memory of the slope on the top twenty acres .
The uncontrolled slide , and his terror .
The Grey One had kept its feet , its time and work not yet over .
Its soul stable while his waivered .
How it knew the land as he did .
How its plough cut keenly when the time was right and how it chattered and sulked when it wasn't .
They had owned and worked the land together .
The soul slept , as eventually did he .
The Grey One awoke , it stirred .
A young man , eyes bright , with a touch to the bonnet as soft as if with his first love .
The Grey soul reborn .[/color:b3cd99fdb2][/i:b3cd99fdb2]
He turned the key one last time ,
the Grey One , his constant companion , shuddered a little, then slept .
He had known others , the Pointers , the Heelers and the Collies , now all passed .
With Irises as blankets to the frost .
They had marked the stages of his life , a young man , a new father
and now the time when all men know their days are short .
The Grey One had been with him for it all till now .
It isn't fair he told his life's mate .
My father's beasts spent their last years in the sun , they retired with grace .
The Grey One has only the corner of the barn , a dust cloth and a gravel floor .
With the resignation of a woman from a life of challenges she replied .
It's a machine father , it's served us well but it has no soul .
No soul ? he muttered , recalling how it had idled so sweetly after oil changes .
How swift it had seemed, when after a crop that had paid the co-op , the school and for Deb dresses had stretched to a sleek new set of tyres .
No soul ? With a shudder the memory of the slope on the top twenty acres .
The uncontrolled slide , and his terror .
The Grey One had kept its feet , its time and work not yet over .
Its soul stable while his waivered .
How it knew the land as he did .
How its plough cut keenly when the time was right and how it chattered and sulked when it wasn't .
They had owned and worked the land together .
The soul slept , as eventually did he .
The Grey One awoke , it stirred .
A young man , eyes bright , with a touch to the bonnet as soft as if with his first love .
The Grey soul reborn .[/color:b3cd99fdb2][/i:b3cd99fdb2]