Newsletter and IYOP Initiatives Australian Coalition '99

AC '99 UPDATE - EDITION No. 7 (March 1999)

THE BRIDGE OF LIFE

This beautiful poem was submitted to The Mature Australian Newspaper's Mature Talent Time section and will be published in our next (March) issue. I felt I would share with you beforehand as I feel it encapsulates what I believe AC 99 priorities are all about - "Towards a Society for all Ages".
This poem says it far better that I could ever.

The Bridge of Life
by Pat Lee, Polar Medal

An old man walking the long highway,
Came upon an evening that was cold and grey.
He met a chasm that was wide and deep,
I'll stay awake, I shall not sleep.
So the old man crossed in the evening dim,
For its roaring waters held no fears for him.
Let's build a bridge to span the tide.

"Old man!" called a fellow near.
"Why! Waste your time with building here.
For your life could end with the ebbing of the day,
You may never again pass this way.
Why build this bridge at your eventide?"
He raised his old head and sighed.

"Good friend!", on this road that I have come", he said.
"Young love will meet and some day wed.
Their children will follow after them one day,
Whose feet will surely tread this way.
So let us build this bridge - Why wait!
For their tomorrow will be far too late.
The Generation Gap - don't let it be,
It's just that we all have a different memory."

This poem was written by Pat Lee who is now 77 years old. Ex-service 1939 - 1945, an engineer with the merchant navy. He served as tractor driver and explorer on Antarctic expeditions 1956 - 1958 and again in 1965 - 1967. Pat was decorated with the British Polar Medal and at the Australian Mawson Base in Antarctica, Lee Island was named after him.

Mature Australian Newspaper
P.O. Box 79
Lindfield NSW 2070 Australia
Tel: 61 2 9416 2299
Fax: 61 2 9416 6680
Email : mature@enternet.com.au