My mother watched for a sign each day
From across the paddocks nearby,
Yet she never saw a wave of the kerchief
No matter how hard she’d try.
A sign’s all she wanted before he got home,
Mother told my father so dear,
If work was found in his search that day,
He should wave when he was near.

The “Sustenance” is all they offered

To help our family make ends meet,
But to be paid this by the government
Father had to dig street after street.
He closed the door each day of the week,
Long before I arose for school.
He knocked on doors and begged for work
To show he was no lazy fool.

His weary face when he came home each day
Was filled with such bitter despair,
And as the days turned into weeks
No talk of his day would he share.
For so many years he’d worked very hard—
Our home was his pride and joy—
And it broke his heart when the bank was about
To take from his girls and boy.