This morning you looked nice, I understand,
Just like a groom on his proud way to church,
But now your tie's undone and you can't stand
Unless the lamp-post guides you as you as you lurch.
Your partner calls and indicates the way,
But legs - unsteady things at best - have schemes
That thwart the rules of sense or gravity.
I start and stumble like this in my dreams,
And on this day dreams meet reality -
Or so they tell me in the glossy mags.
I placed no bets and won no sort of race;
Perhaps you're better off, disheveled rags
The signs that you dreamt once. I play it safe
And keep my clothes in tact. You walk on air
And yet you cannot walk now as I stare.
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Published by Matthew Pullar
Teacher, writer, blogger, husband, father, Christian. Living in Wyndham in Melbourne's west, on the land of the Kulin Nation. Searching for words to console and feed hearts and souls.
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The Consolations of Writing 
Oh, was that on today? I have to admit, I’ve never really taken much interest in The Cup. I did have a flutter one year about 30 years ago when a horse called Stormy Weather won. The reason I remember the horse’s name was because I was watching the weather in the morning and the weatherman said it looks like it was going to be stormy weather for the cup. Just as a joke, I thought I might put a $1 bet on (my first and last). When I was choosing which horse I wanted, I saw there was one called Stormy Weather so I thought, ‘Oh, isn’t that interesting, the weatherman said it was going to be stormy weather for the cup; little realising he was actually talking about the horse and not the weather. I won $10 that day. LOL I always thought what I’d mistakenly thought was actually more exciting than winning 🙂
The Melbourne Cup might be an Australian institution, but behind all the so-called glamour and big money, there is a great deal of sadness and grief and that is why your poem is such a telling representation of what happens on Cup Day. Very, very sad because there’ll children going to bed hungry tonight because the man of the house has gambled the grocery money away.
Great story! I don’t tend to pay much attention to it either (I don’t even know who won!) but it’s hard to ignore in Melbourne, especially when I live just down the road from the racecourse! I think you’re definitely right about the impact it has on families. Nothing like the glamorous side that we see on TV.
Now if you offered me tickets to the Ashes, that would be a completely different thing 😀