Hey old man sitting there
So lost in thoughts of years gone by
Tell me now of things you've seen
And deeds that you have done

Smiling gently the old man nods
And scratches whiskery chin
A heavy sigh, where to begin
The tale of things that he has seen

When I was your age son, he said
The world was so much different
Every day the things you use
Back in my day not existed

I was born in my father's house
My mother died while birthing
By light of candle I first surveyed
This world that I arrived in

This place called home so far away
From town or nearest neighbour
A dusty track wound past our place
This road so barely travelled

One winter's night so wet and drear
The doctor could not travel
My sister's life was lost that night
Her death could've been prevented

How I missed her sweet smiling face
And her arms that gave me comfort
Fifteen was by far too young
To go and meet her maker

My father cold at best of times
Became so much more distant
He'd sit at night by candle light
And read naught but the Bible

When time came for school to go
I'd walk for many hours
One room that housed us all
One teacher for all the classes

A brutal man that beat us quick
Should we stray the slightest
Lessons learned the hard way
The beatings were quite frequent

After school when home I'd get
So weary from all the walking
So many chores awaited me
Would be dark before I finished

I was barely twelve when father died
In his sleep he passed away
Rest his soul dear God I prayed
With mum and sis is he

I left my home, was nothing here
No ties to bind me down
No memory of love and warmth
Not since my sister died

On my back a bag I carried
Was all I owned within
Not much to show for my short life
Two shirts and a cardigan

I aimed my sights for Sydney Town
It would take me many weeks
Blisters on my weary feet
And holes in soles worn thin

Here and there for a day or two
Some work I would find
Those were times when I would eat
My hunger then appeased

Most nights I'd sleep under stars
Came rain or clear night sky
Sometimes when my luck was in
I'd find a warm dry barn

The closer I came to Sydney Town
The sights that met my eyes
Buildings tall and stately stood
And people everywhere

Never before had I seen such sights
These buildings reached for sky
And a thing they called electricity
To make the lights burn bright

The flick of a switch would turn a room
From night time into day
And streets were lit by lights so bright
They almost hurt the eyes

Hard I looked for work to find
And many days I starved
Often there on lonely nights
No comfort to be found

Finally my luck it changed
Employment I did find
Washing floors and toilets too
In a pub at Ultimo

Saturdays they were the worst
With vomit on the walls
The smell so bad you'd want to puke
But still you'd do the job