By Marco Gliori
How on Earth can we articulate the love our Graham bore
for his fellow Human Beings? He was generous to the core.
You could write a speech, a verse, a list of accolades perhaps
but you’d never capture everything he did around the traps.
He didn’t hold a record once, or score to win the game,
more likely you bumped into him, I bet he knew your name.
He was humble, gently spoken, but just the sort of breed
to stand up like a soldier for someone else in need.
He served you up a burger once and asked about your mum.
He slashed beside the Highway and was never paid a crumb.
Then he polished up his tractor and hitched it to a van
that he proudly donated for the volunteers to man.
He gave our kids free wagon rides up and down the street,
then served hot cups of coffee for the travelers he would meet.
He sat on those committees, and he saw this place progress,
if someone cried out ‘Can you help?’ Graham answered ‘yes’.
If Mankind’s greatest Army of today are volunteers,
then Graham was a General, well-respected by his peers.
The first to roll his sleeves up, lead the charge and ‘have a go’,
then share a cuppa with ya’ and turn on the radio.
He’d listen to some Rose FM, a lazy country song,
spin a wheel and run a chook raffle to help the club along.
If you were stuck on Trouble Street, before long he was there,
he helped so many, help themselves, with no time left to spare.
Don’t bother with a statue, he’d prefer a funny poem,
perhaps a tune to celebrate his country, or his home.
His OAM, though much deserved, I reckon he would say
distracted him from all the work he had to do that day.
So, celebrate his character, and if he touched your heart,
tomorrow, you will muster up, and proudly play your part.
Come! Volunteer, where helping hands and mate-ship bear no fuss,
and humility – like Graham’s light – shines on through all of us.
-Marco Gliori
