The Aussie - Spring 2019

This ‘poem’ was sent to ‘The Aussie’ and it was wriJen in the 1930’s about a family’s pet Aussie - named Pete.It’s a sure
bet that many readers will recognise some of the characteris>cs of Pete in their Aussie all these decades later.
“Australian Terrier quite well-bred."
The fellow who sold him told us.
But it doesn't much maUer. When all is said,
He has come in the end to hold us
Slaves to his love, and a loyalty
That never stoops to ques?on.
He has all the vim of a restless flea,
And an iron-clad diges?on.
And he struts and swaggers and gnaws his bone;
And his heart is ours; but his soul his own.
He took possession of hearth and home,
As soon as he'd looked us over.
Then he dug vast holes in the garden loam,
And he saw that he lived in clover.
A laughing bundle of fluff and fuss,
Scarce big as the rabbit he chases,
He has made his home in the hearts of us;
But he keeps us in our places.
If his tail he wounded he li\s a paw,
As wisÅul a mite as ever you saw.
Vast obliga?ons weigh on him:
But mere bulk does not daunt him.
His way with a motor truck is grim;
When the Sydney air mail drones on high
He orders it out of our private sky.
No pampered pet of a lap-dog he
But, doing all things he shouldn't,
He roams defiant, fancy free.
And we praise his faults. Who wouldn't?
For he’ll come at the close of a sin-strewn day
Impenitent before you;
But his feet and his tail and his eyes all say,
"You know that I adore you."
Then he'll climb to your lap and bore his head
Hard into your chest, ?ll wrath be fled.
With the mind of Puck and head of an ox,
All privilege he seizes.
He scorns the warmth of his padded box
And sleeps where-er he pleases.
A braggart, full of bounce and fuss—
His every aspect shows it—
But he's found his place in the hearts of us:
And he knows it. How he knows it.
With his zest for fun, and his eloquent eyes,
And a loyalty that shames his size.
No horse, no cow may flaunt him.
Nor bird nor beast may stay to scoff
That on his realm encroaches.
Should thunder come, he warns it off
With fierce, high pitched reproaches.