Poems By Tony Davies

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PAULITE WEB - Poems By Tony Davies
The Disaster of '68

The terrible disaster of '68
Is almost too much to contemplate,
Boys became men almost overnight,
Helping others in their dreadful plight.
It started off with rain pouring down
Until it flooded the hillside town,
Streams turned to rivers overnight,
In their path putting families to flight,
But some slept on, and were swept away.
Thousands were lost on that fateful day.

When the call went out for volunteers,
The boys of St. Pauls put aside their fears,
And showed a maturity beyond their years,
In the terrible disaster of '68.

Houses destroyed, whole families gone,
But the boys of St. Pauls pulled together as one,
Through landslides, mudslides, and pouring rain,
The boys worked on, and put aside their pain.
They dug out bodies, and buried the dead,
The adrenalin flowed, and numbed their dread.
They saw things in those days that no boy should see,
But carried on regardless, through the catastrophe.
Heroes were made in those long, dark days,
Remembered now, through History's haze.

When the call went out for volunteers,
The boys of St. Pauls put aside their fears.
Boys became heroes, … but still shed tears,
In the terrible disaster of '68.

In true St. Pauls spirit you soldiered on,
Even after all hope had long gone.
Comradeship and fortitude masked your fears,
The falling rain would have hidden your tears.
With no respite in sight, no end to your toil,
Doing work from which, most men would recoil!
All done for love of your fellow man,
You worked on tirelessly, as true heroes can.
While the mists still roll down the mountainside
You will be remembered at St. Pauls with great pride.

When the call went out for volunteers,
The boys of St. Pauls put aside their fears,
Their courage still remembered, after all these years,
In the terrible disaster of '68.