For 18 years on the first of September, our Special Counsel (while in her former role as Principal Claims Assessor under the Motor Accidents Compensation Scheme) sent out to all staff and Claims Assessors a spring themed poem. Belinda has continued the tradition at Stacks Goudkamp and we are delighted to share it with you.
1 September – the first day of spring is also (since 1992) National Wattle Day. There are (according to Wikipedia so it must be true) 960 varieties of Australian native wattle. The wattle’s colours of gold and green are why our national sporting teams tend to wear … gold and green.
This poem celebrating our national flower by Lancashire born Veronica Mason was first published on 11 September 1912 in the Hobart Mercury.
Happy Wattle Day everyone and welcome to Spring 2018!
The bush was grey
A week to-day
(Olive-green and brown and grey);
But now the spring has come this way,
With blossoms for the wattle.
It seems to be
A fairy tree;
It dances to a melody,
And sings a little song to me
(The graceful, swaying wattle):
See how it weaves
Its feathery sheaves:
Before the wind a maze it weaves,
A misty whirl of powdery leaves –
(The dainty, curtseying wattle):
Its boughs uplift
An elfin gift;
A spray of yellow, downy drift,
Through which the sunbeams shower and sift
Their gold-dust o’er the wattle.
The bush was grey
A week to-day
(Olive-green and brown and grey);
But now it’s sunny all the way,
For, oh! the spring has come to stay,
With blossom for the wattle!
Written by Belinda Cassidy.
Belinda Cassidy holds the position of Special Counsel at Stacks Goudkamp. She had previously held the position of Principal Claims Assessor at the State Insurance Regulatory Authority (SIRA) for 18 years, and currently holds an appointment as a Claims Assessor under the Motor Accidents Compensation Act.
