The Bird Poem

John Bird, who is running for the Federal seat of Fremantle at the forthcoming, as yet undated, Federal elections, dropped our Editor an email a couple days ago to confirm he is running at the forthcoming, as yet undated, Federal elections, and sent us his Facebook campaign banner to prove it, along with a poem and note saying, ‘Thanks for the Shipping News – always a pleasure.’

What was our Ed to do with this sort of blandishment?

Perish or Publish?

Publish of course.

Here’s John’s eye-catching Facebook campaign banner. His campaign can now be taken to have been launched!

And here’s John’s poem.

Early at the Beach

Some say that beach sand’s too gritty;

Some say the water’s too wet.

But you can’t beat a beach in the city.

And to wake to a swim’s better yet.

~~

Be the first to arrive there;

Avoid the heat of the day.

Time flies; your job needs you somewhere,

So pack up and hurry away.

~~

But the joy of the sand’s not the reason,

Nor the blue of the ocean so deep.

Not the heat of the hot summer season.

The joy’s in the comp’ny you keep.

~~

John Bird

(Editor’s note to self: Not sure whether I really should be encouraging this sort of thing. What if (strictly in alphabetical order) the Freo State seat contenders so far known to us – Kate Hullet, Simone McGurk and Felicity Townsend, not to mention upper house Greens candidate Sophie McNeill, all now decide to send me poems? The answer is, I suppose, as it is to most prospective challenges in life, I will worry about that when it happens!)

* By Michael Barker, Editor, Fremantle Shipping Mews

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