The Gap

By Gap Local Rick Michael

The age-old question will surely arise
What’s this strange creature to my surprise?
It is simply a friend or is it foe?
Is Gap creek Rd open, I really want to know


Having checked Bom several times, it is pouring down rain
Gap creek Rd is now certain to be the new council drain
There are only three exit points from The Gap you know
Waterworks, Settlement, Dillion Rd- which way to go?

No matter, I can’t drive anyway
I’ve lost my keys and glasses in the park the other day
I can’t remember which park because there is quite a few
I emptied all my pockets, but the wind just sails through

I try and focus but all is not going very well
The water tastes strange and there is some kind of smell
It could be the loud noises that scream in the night
That keeps me up and rigid with fright

The storm birds keep a late nigh watch with their sound
Or go for a swim at the Resi where friends can be found
Take a trip down to the Gap village for a bite to eat
And see yet there are more Gapians I know to meet

Or the blinking lights on top of those television towers
That tell me if a storm is coming or just some showers
The marauding cockatoos that treat the pool like a giant bath
Or someone playing the bagpipes, you just have to laugh

But I love The Gap and never want to leave
But should I live on the North or South or do as I please
Then I could tell the new neighbours I have moved with pride
And finally lived in all parts and on each and every side

I could run the gauntlet across the dam wall
But at my age I would most likely stack my BMX and fall
Better settle down with some cool lemonade
Made with ‘borrowed lemons’ – just like homemade

I could camp on Waterworks Rd every weekend
And watch all the bikers zoom really fast around the bend
Wear my Gap t-shirt at Coles at Walton Bridge
Park my car on all kinds of weird angles sticking out a smidge

Avoid the gaze of the teens stare and looks that say ‘pity the fool’
Trying to act hip and young and looking not so cool
Enraged when there is only one chip left in the freezer
Rationing the toilet paper with a tweezer

Lately all the rats seem to have left and I seem blessed
Maybe they decided The Gap wasn’t for them I guessed
But I quickly learned it is not that kind of pest
The endless queues at the testing site and searching like the rest

I could rake the ten thousand leaves each and every day
Only for the wind to come and blow them back all my way
Start the power tools at the crack of dawn
Waving to the neighbours as they rub their eyes and yawn

I stepped out into the garden to grab the hose
The dog was barking madly and what do you suppose
I had grabbed a carpet snake without knowing
Its eyes were saying what do you think you’re doing and glowing

There seem to be a great deal of uninvited guests
That want to party in my garden beds and become pests
Scuttling about and trying to flap their wings
While the storm birds signal it’s time to sing

If only I could find my glasses, then this wouldn’t occur
I swear the snake looked like a hose through all the blur
Luckily the neighbour up the road is a snake catcher- the best
I’d better slowly put down the snake and give my heart a rest

Yet another package delivered to the wrong place
Time for another piece of detective work to solve the case
Post online for some tradie recommendations
And read all the viral feeds, comments and condemnations

I might just stay home and wait for all the offers to sell
Posting all the junk mail on my fridge ready for show and tell
But still my glasses are missing so I will post
On the grapevine to simply boast

We have new neighbours who moved in the other day
So, I asked where they moved from and began to say
But they interjected with the classic line of real estate
That they have moved within The Gap- it was fate

Yes, Gap Creek Rd is well and truly open today
I drove through it just the other day
But overnight we had over a metre of rain
Maybe it’s back to being the new council drain

I love The Gap and have resided here most of my life
Where I raised my kids and spent many years with my darling wife
I never want to leave and celebrate the community vibe
After all we are all part of the Gapian tribe!