The Preacher on the Clydesdale on Palm Sunday Night
In Barellan NSW there is a Clydesdale Festival each year. They have teams of bullocks and horses and it is a great day out! This poem was prepared for a school assembly at Barellan Central School to celebrate Easter. The idea was to make the Christian Palm Sunday connect with Barellan Clydesdales, Barellan Beer and country life.
The Preacher on the Clydesdale on Palm Sunday Night
When you go to bed at night,
And close your eyes, switch off the light;
Tuck up the bedclothes real tight,
For when the dreamtime comes.
The dreams come even in Holy Week,
When sleepy mouths do not speak;
And we never in the darkness peak,
So as not to disturb the dreamtime.
I heard a dream a while ago,
Something about a horsey show;
And a preacher, none who we would know!
Was one of the main characters.
It tells of a night within the calm,
A horse came up but did not harm,
Any person waving a palm,
On that Palm Sunday night.
In that week that we all call Holy,
There’s a story of Preacher Foley,
Who came a riding a Clydesdale foalie,
All the way in to town.
The people stood out on the street,
Waving their palms and tapping their feet,
To the beat of hoofen feet,
And of Foley astride his mount.
There was no donkey, mule or ass,
That the preacher could find after Mass,
So, to cheer up lad and lass,
He came upon a Clydesdale.
But that’s the way these Holy Days,
To celebrate Easter in Barellan ways,
For those olden times of gigs and drays,
Are what will steal the show.
As Foley’s Clydesdale came up near,
The crowd they gave a mighty cheer!
One said: “Get ‘im a Barellan Beer!”
As he trotted by.
He trotted past the young and old,
The aloof, shy ones and the bold,
He touched the hearts both warm and cold,
Bringing to all his cheer.
A kelpie’s bark made Foley look back,
But his plucky Clydesdale had the knack,
To keep his head upon the track,
And no one came to harm.
So the message of Christ’s great trip,
Along Jerusalem’s royal strip,
Still managed to find a grip,
In peoples’ hearts that day.
If you can’t find ass, donkey or mule,
Don’t worry, you can play it cool,
Get a Clydesdale to come past the school,
For Palm Sunday Barellan Style.
Simon C.J. Falk 31 March 2015
Simon's still stanza 