The NovaCare knitters set to work as did many others and when our favourite poet Brenda Bryant heard the story, she put pen to paper. Enjoy:
THE LAMBS
This year our state has suffered drought, with not a drop of rain.
There have been many shortages, of grass and also grain.
The rivers have been drying up, and so have many dams ,
And then, of course, the farmers have had problems with their lambs.
The sheep have given birth alright but the lambs have been deserted,
Mother has gone in search of food and the lambs are disconcerted.
The spring winds can blow chilly and the little babies cry:
They have no wool to keep them warm and many of them die.
But the kindly folk of NovaCare, along with many others,
Heard of the plight of the little lambs deserted by their mothers.
They made coats out of of coloured wool and also their spare yarn…….
Little coats that kept the lambs as snug as in a barn.
The coats were sent off to the farms to ease the farmers’ plight,
And the lambs appeared delighted for they were exactly right.
The animals could leap and prance as little lambkins do,
But they were kept quite warm and snug when the chilly breezes blew.
From all the Australian cities came coats for baby lambs,
Until the truck loads of them very nearly caused traffic jams!
“Please don’t send us any more!” The farmers cried at last.
“We have so many coats and now the emergency has passed,”
But the work will not be wasted for the coats have gone in store
And droughts will keep on coming, probably more and more.
But even when grass is plentiful and the dams are full and deep,
The farmers will speak with gratitude of the people who saved the sheep. B.B.
