“Such is life.” Reputed to be the final words of the Australian outlaw,
Ned Kelly, before he was hanged at Melbourne in 1880.
A life, a death.
What’s one more life
(or death) in this
hard world?
Man is born of woman—
in this case
Mrs. Kelly
and her son Ned.
A wild colonial boy,
horse thief, bushranger
and mythical figure;
another man
in an iron mask;
a man whose passions
led inexorably
to the gallows.
Man who is born
of woman hath
but a short time
to live—
Mrs. Kelly, behold thy son.
Such is life.
Bill Fitzsimons