Bonzer Words!: A Melbourne Christmas
Beryl McKenzie brings a seasonal poem from the land where Christmas is celebrated in summer.
Beryl writes for Bonzer! magazine. For more good reading visit www.bonzer.org.au
We gasped in horror when she said,
'Let's have a real trad splurge.'
Smiling at us she nodded her head,
'I really have this urge!'
'Oh no,' we pleaded, 'don't do this,
hot dinner we can't stand.'
But said she, 'I'll do every dish,
you won't have to lend a hand.'
We groaned and offered her a bribe,
but rock firm she stood, alack!
She was going to cook for our tribe,
her plan she would not take back.
Christmas morn dawned, thirty degrees,
thermometer creeping up;
into the kitchen she did breeze,
while ice cool drinks we did sup.
Time out for presents and some cheer,
then back into the heat;
into the oven she did peer,
to baste our Christmas meat.
She cooked the vegies and gravy brown,
and heated up plum pud,
and kept on smiling with never a frown,
and made custard, thick and good.
We sat around our festive table,
to eat our hot cooked meal,
and we put away as much as was able,
and the room with laughter did peal.
We pulled our crackers and wore funny hats
and sipped cold and sweet champagne;
and though perspiration rolled down our backs,
we never thought to complain.
It was forty degrees outside that day,
and probably more inside;
but we were a happy family at play,
bound together with love and with pride.
