Farewell
A poem to an unknown horseman
Evening cast her shadows,
the horseman dipped his hat,
to the last rays of the setting sun
and thought well that is that.
Farewell to another day
and time to set up camp
build a fire put the billy on,
then light the spirit lamp.
On the track moving south
and following the seasons,
quiet and without company,
for only his own reasons.
He’s cast aside the memories,
of that last farewell
and moves now with the weather,
on the past he’ll never dwell.
His mate is now the great outdoors,
at one with the sky and hills,
his saddlebag stores all he wants,
his companions are his skills.
He drifts along the dusty track
and hardly marks the earth,
the rolling plains and misty vales,
birds and animals his worth.
The weather often plots his route,
he rides in the high country,
when the wind and rain are thick
overhanging rock there keeps him company.
He is the man from nowhere,
where he’s been and where he’s going,
is in the nature of his last farewell
that only he is knowing.
©
David Rudder
21st July 2020
Thank you for reading.
