THE DAY MY SISTER, CHERYL, ALMOST BURNT DOWN THE MYER MUSIC BOWL

We were sitting in the dry grass
Way back at the end of the crowd,
Back in the early ‘70s when Cheryl
Suddenly cried out aloud.

We were at Carols by Candlelight
Just a few days before Christmas,
Waiting endless hours until
The carolling began at last.

It was a fiery summer day in
One of the worst summers on record,
And so the carolling did not go
Quite exactly to accord.

The grass was dry as tinder
And the candles came in Styrofoam cups,
So when Cheryl dropped her candle
The Myer Music Bowl almost went up.

At the back of the crowd, we panicked
Trying desperately to douse,
What was soon a near inferno
Seemingly too fearsome to put out.

With blankets and our jumpers
We belted at the flames,
With Alfie Boy beside us
Calling Cheryl unkind names.

People soon began to help us
Until there was quite a crowd,
Screams and children’s cries of glee
Until we were very loud.

But thankfully for one and all
Before it reached ATV’s broadcast,
Our struggles began to pay off
Until the inferno was put out.

Too embarrassed to leave then
We sat down on woollen blankets,
And went back to carolling
Hoping soon the crowd would forget.

We never went back in later years
To Carols by Candlelight,
Remembering how Cheryl set the lawn afire
That fateful summer night.

THE END
© Copyright 2021, Philip Roberts
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia