Bush Santas – a tribute to Australian roadside art

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Bush Santas

I’ve caught him out several times,
rounding a bend miles from
anywhere and there he is
in the middle of a paddock
hopping a motor bike
speeding off with a full sack.

Or steering a team of corrugated kangaroos
using a cattle ramp as a launching pad.
Always in a hurry.  (Big brown land.
So much to deliver. No pressure. Ha!)

And still wearing    that   ridiculous
fur-trimmed red suit even on days
        hot enough
to melt the soles from your boots.

There he goes —
straddling that post-and-rail fence.

I think of blowflies, ‘santa snow’ on the windows,
the smell of roast chicken and gravy. Plum puddings
with threepenny bits and a sweet milky custard.

And under the tree, 
my Christmas Dad
with his big farrier’s hands
passing out presents.

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From Vagabondage, published by UWAP