1.
My father once built us a dunny
The finest in all of the land
A simple yet elegant structure
And he finished it all off by hand

The seat was a big slab of kauri
That he sanded till it was white
The surface was smooth
    - as a baby's behind
With never a splinter in sight

2.
I watched as he cut out the opening
He took off the old hat he wore
He scribed out the brim - with a pencil
then he cut out the mark with a saw

He fetched an old drum from the woolshed
And the dunny at last was complete
He christened the structure   

    - with no little pride
Sitting there on the old dunny seat

3.
My mother selected a passionfruit vine
To modestly screen off the loo
Strategically sited - to keep the place private
But not interfere with the view

And sitting in utter contentment
In this heaven of happy retreat
He could view fully half    

    - of the farm at a glance
As he sat on the old dunny seat



4.
My father would leave the door open
As he pondered the work to be done
And he'd sit with his tweeds
- way down past his knees
While his body was warmed by the sun

And there, undisturbed in the dunny
As the dogs lay around at his feet
He would plan out his work
    - for the long winter months
As he sat on the old dunny seat

5.
Now the years carry change in their passing
The old must give way to the new
We built a new house - as we prospered
- and down came the bog with a view

We now had a flush-matic toilet
With a seat of pink plastic inside
But my father he mourned
    - that old dunny of his
right up to the day that he died