​The Swaggie

​We rode up on our bikes
A couple of 13 year olds
Bored with small town life
Deciding to explore the show grounds

Sitting in a horse stall
A man with neat hair
His clothes ready for a wash
He told us he was a swaggie

My dad had told me
You should always help swaggies
He always gave them tea and sugar
Listened to their stories

We exchanged names
He was John Brown
A popular brand of clothing
Had made his name famous

We stayed about 30 minutes
Listened in awe to his stories
He had a captive audience
Times were different then

The life of a swaggie
Was different to the homeless
That live under the bridges today
They happily roamed the countryside

John Brown was my only swaggie
I went home got him some tea and sugar
We left him boiling his billy
Enjoying his life on the road