He is even an aspiring poet! More will be posted shortly.
Here is a small sample, written about his new grandson, Brayden:
A bonny boy
Brings Sonia joy
And Ben is full of Pride,
As Brayden grows
We all suppose
He'll make a rugby side
We wish him well
His parents too,
This boy is dear to us,
He's sure to be
A spirit free,
With very little fuss!
"Ode To A Wire Fence"
He only meant to build a fence,
He wanted it to be
The best farm fence in all the land,
A joy for all to see.
To keep the cattle off the road,
He strained the wire tight,
But suddenly a crack was heard,
It gave him such a fright.
The wire broke and flipped around,
It caught him in the eye,
The poor guy fell and hit the ground,
But didn't even cry!
He went to see the Doc. who said,
"Oh dear, you poor old sod,
You're lucky it was just your eye --
You could have gone to God!"
Now treated by the specialist,
He thanked his lucky star,
He rested up for all that week
And soon was up to par.
He wanted to complete the job,
So went back to the farm
And vowed this time to take great care
To do himself no harm.
“A Real Congenial Bloke”
(With apologies to C.J.Dennis!)
Now I’ve sort o’ studied sellin’, for I’ve met a tidy few
O' fellers tryin' real damn hard to con meself into
Buyin' things I didn't want, or need to use at work,
As soon as they walks out, I thinks, "Well blimey what a berk! -
I reckon I could better that, if not, well I'll go he,
If there’s a firm that wants me, then I’m sure that I could be
A real fantastic salesman – yep, one who’d never fail”,
So I went and gave me notice. The boss said, “That’s a nail –
That you’ve drove in me coffin – can’t stand to lose such blokes,
Go outa here an’ come back in an’ tell me it’s a hoax.”
Alas, I could do no such thing – me mind it was made up,
(And that was long before me win upon the Melbourne Cup.)
If I’d ‘ave known that I would win an awful lot o’ dough,
I mighta thought about it more – before I said I’d go,
But now it’s done, I’m bound to leave; I’ve counted up the dates,
And find that now it’s time to go, and leave behind me mates.
Especially me cobber Jeff – ‘e’s not yer av’rage bloke,
I thinks a lot of ‘im, yer know, (‘e doesn’t even smoke!)
An’ all the other guys an’ dolls around this ‘ere joint,
I’ll miss ‘em all – I can’t be much more strong about that point.
And now it’s time to say “So long” (I really mustn’t cry),
I only want to say farewell – it’s not me last goodbye,
I’ll come back ‘ere an’ haunt me mates an’ p’raps the foreman too,
But now I’ll say, “So long for now, I wish you fond adieu”.