Russian Monument to Bikers
Whew! Well, that was a close shave… if I hadn’t turned a headlong dive into a combat roll, I’d have gone face first into the tarmac and that, as they say, would have been that. “It would have been ‘Goodnight’ from me; and it would have been ‘Goodnight’ from him!”
Two and a half weeks in hospital, three operations on the foot, nearly $10,000 worth of surgical scrap metal rods, plates and screws holding my foot and ankle bones together, and another couple of weeks of home-recuperation later (and with more operationls to come… “Oh, joy!”) I’m still unable to do much, but I’ve finally recovered enough energy to keep my promise to make a contribution to Poet’s Corner.
To that end, it seems appropriate at the present moment in time to offer you, “Dave, the Mad Biker from Hell”, which I’d like to dedicate to the Bruised and Battered Bikers’ Brigade, and to all the nurses and staff at the RAH, especially the nurses on Ward R3/Orthopaedics.
Dave, the Mad Biker from Hell
1: You may keep your tales of glory
Of wealth and power and fame
And I’ll tell you the story
Of one who wouldn’t play that game:
A hard-riding crazy Irishman
Who, so I’ve heard tell,
Is known by the name,
And it’s earned him some fame -
As ‘Dave, the Mad Biker from Hell’
2: From the cold Streets of London
Young David had come,
To Australia’s sunny shores.
His busker’s life he’d leave behind;
It’s hardships he’d deplored.
A New Start he’d work hard to make,
And he’d succeed for sure…
Until one day fate laid his path
To the Uni’s hallowed door…
3: Now, Dave had but one ambition,
And all he sought was knowledge,
So he studied really hard
At Elizabeth Community College…
Then to Uni off he went,
As proud as proud could be
To study Anthropology
And earn him a degree.
4: He passed with flying colors;
To do honors was invited.
But then they made him student rep
And his career was sorely blighted
When they disestablished the department
Of Anthropology
And he was made to fight his teachers
And the whole Arts Faculty.
5: He knew it was no accident,
The situation had been crafted:
Volunteered, real ‘Army-Style’;
He knew that he’d been shafted…
Now the winding road it calls him,
For he knows that he must find
A different kind of future
To the one he left behind.
6: Now he rides the lonely road
In silence, and solitude serene
While he ponders on the irony
Of all he’d heard and seen.
Even those who had supported him
Could now all kiss his ass
For those he’d represented, (of course),
Had been mostly middle-class.
7: Like his life, Dave’s ancient bike reflects
Cruel hardship and poverty
The clutch worn through, the brakes near gone
The tyres as bald as he;
But he doesn’t care for he knows full well
He’s more chance now than then,
Of survival, as he rides this wreck,
As ‘Dave the mad biker from Hell’.
yo
Yo Hung! Stay cool, my man!
Sort of pslamy that poem T2?
More kinda ‘ballady’, Hung…
Thanks Asty,
Loved your poem again and feel I know you even better second time around. Geez, that bloody motorbike.
I look forward to your blog’s next instalment here on the Pigs.
That wasn’t the bike I had the accident on, Gerard… and in any case, the accident wasn’t the bike’s fault…
Glad you’re enjoying the story.
The bike I was riding at the time I wrote the poem, though, Gez, was exactly like it’s description in the poem… and I have witnesses to testify to the fact!
Sometimes life’s so tough you have to take chances you wouldn’t otherwise have to take… and things were pretty tough back then… not much changes.
Asty dearest, I don’t need to tell you that you are welcome here, you know that you an asset on any blog, not the least at the Pigs’ Arms…
Thank you, dear Helvi; you have always been one of my strongest supporters!
A long hard slog indeed. Very tough. Hoping the OS gives you some welcome news.
Thanks Voice… me too!
Looking forward to further stories of T2.
At the risk of seeming unduly immodest, Lehan: T2 is me too! And don’t forget you can access all my work that I’ve published to date at:
astyages.wordpress.com
And please don’t forget that both yourself and your students (not to mention all the piglets and other regular readers of this blog!) are welcome to use any of my material for free subject to usual copyright restrictions and acknowledgment of the author.
Registration on my blog might help my stats a little and is completely free for anyone who would like to give me just a little bit of support… and it won’t cost them more than a few clicks of a mouse…
I enjoyed that Asty. I remember when I first encountered you at the PA’s cradle and somehow sussed you as a Geordie. You were conciliatory then (probably 3 years ago)- and have remained so, despite all of your challenges.
Best of luck from a fellow ex-pat!
Regards
JL …………………Excuse my variety of pseuds, it amuses me; and this one is homage to The IOW.
I have created a new mailbox vestesian@bigpond.com It will give me a touch of anonymity-and enable me to blog in some new nefarious places. Who knows maybe the Adelaide Times (if there is one, in that far off idyll that I have heard so much about)?
I may even use it for a tall story contribution at The Snoutery!
PS Actually, it is vectesian@bigpond.com How silly of me.
There is something called the Adelaide Advertiser, now a tabloid, but no real newspaper.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/
I’m afraid it doesn’t meet your criteria of nefariousness however.
Well let me amend that then, to mildly iniquiitous.
Would you settle for ‘occasionally forgets to say please’?
Jl inserts a smiley here *. One of bewilderment.
Never watched ‘Get Smart’? It’s a classic format from that.
And it’s goodnight from her.
OK. Well when you come back manyana, you can read that I haven’t!
And who could object to all your pseuds, Julian, when they are all so original… I take it ‘Vectis Lad’ was a famous/popular/superlative racehorse on the IOW and that it is to this thoroughbread you are paying homage?
I’m looking forward to any of your ‘tall story contributions’ Julian; you do ‘em so well!
Now I’m off to play Medieval II Total War and ‘veg out’ a little… I’m Kerry-Packered!
You know, if I thought you might be surreptitiously contributing to the Adelaide Advertizer – presumably the online version – I might even be tempted to start reading same…
When I lived in Sydney I rode a zippy, red 75cc Yamaha step-through. I got knocked off on two occasions by taxis and one time I came off when I hit oil on the road. Worst injury was a bung knee which swelled up so much I couldn’t bend it and had to roll out of bed. The first accident was a slow motion affair as I saw it coming and fortunately the bus behind me stopped short of running over me. It was almost hilarious as I had a side of lamb strapped into the basket and it went flying.
By the way, love the poem. Further, I do hope your foot/ankle improves as lack of mobility is a total bummer.
Thanks Vivienne… this is an oldie of mine… a repeat post dug up from the vaults. It takes me back to eighteen months ago, when I’d just got out of hospital… and I think it was actually three and a half weeks!
Well, for those wishing an update, I can say that I’m walking a bit more now; I can manage to get around my flat well enough without crutches now, though I still need them to go up and down-stairs and if I’m going out anywhere, ’cause I still can’t go very far without ‘em and I still can’t stand on my feet for more than a few minutes at a time (I have a constantly aching back now, even so!)
I see the orthopaedic surgeon again on the 24th of this month… just three days after I’ve moved into my new place… and will probably require further surgery (bone fusion) in February (or whenever they can fit me in, I suppose!)
After that my plans for the year start with a trip to WA to on a quest for my past: I’ve found Phil the Pill… the guy who ran “Matilda’s” folk-club in London and who now lives near Perth… and he’s invited me to a barbie to be held in my honour, so how could I refuse; if it weren’t for my leg, I’d have done it already! And THEN I’ll be able to start writing “Matilda’s”, the novel!
The story of my quest ought to provide some interesting blogging material too, I suppose, so it should also help my resolve to post a blog-a-week on my own blog (astyages.wordpress.com) and I’ll try to manage a similar rate of posting here… though I can’t make any promises…
Later tonight I’ll post the second episode of ‘Virgil’s Aeneid’; just a little bit late to squeeze it into the second week; but I’ll try to be more regular in future; after I’ve moved, perhaps Friday would be a good regular day for Virgil… ’til then, I’m afraid you’ll have to take it as it comes…
What a pleasure it is to read some of your story here, asty and the ballad. It all is written so well.
Thank you Sandshoe, the ballad form seems to come almost naturally to me… I can spin rhyming couplets almost off the top of my head…
I have, of course, told you all the story before, but I’m gratified that you enjoy reading it here in this form.
