Item 03: Joseph George Burgess war diary, 1 January 1916-4 February 1917 - Page 150
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[Page 150]
30 July, 1916
"In a Tent"
Old Lawson has sung of the stringy-bark tree
(And the old stringy-bark aint no stranger to me
He has praised the rough roof that has sheltered his rest
And although Im no Lawson, Im doing my best,
To give thanks to the tent that has given a roof
To shelter my bunk when from padding the hoof
Through the dust of the desert Ive often been tired
And to dream in the blankets was all I desired.
There are songs that are sung of the stitching of shirts
And fellows who wrangle over various skirts
Even Homer has told of heros who fought
For a tart known as Helen €“ ( I don't think they ought.-
My theme is more humble, praps more to the point
The metres erratic and oft out of joint
In stating here that, to a certain extent
Theres considerable merit attached to a tent.
On the edge of the plain where the desert sands glare
Our tents are afly in the sand smothered air
The distant mirage spreads its shimmering gleams
That we never can reach like a river of dreams
And the arch of the sky where the desert hawks wheel
Its as hard & as blue as the polish of steel €“
But in spite of the sand & the desert immense
We made it a home when we put up our tent