The Simple Gift

  One that’s so good

  University Professors will read it, badly,

  in front of hundreds of students

  twenty years

  after I die

  to prove to the world

  what a jewel

  what a gift

  what a gem

  I gave

  what a poet I was.

  Love, Ghosts & Nose Hair is a bittersweet comedy written in verse for young adults.

  ISBN 978 0 7022 2878 0

  First published 2000 by University of Queensland Press

  PO Box 6042, St Lucia, Queensland 4067 Australia

  Reprinted 2001, 2002, 2003 (twice), 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 (twice), 2009, 2010, 2011 (twice), 2012

  This edition published 2014

  www.uqp.com.au

  uqp@uqp.uq.edu.au

  © Steven Herrick 2000

  This book is copyright. Except for private study, research,

  criticism or reviews, as permitted under the Copyright Act,

  no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,

  or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior

  written permission. Enquiries should be made to the publisher.

  Cover design by Jo Hunt

  Typeset in Adobe Garamond 12/14pt by Post Pre-press Group, Brisbane

  Printed in Australia by McPherson’s Printing Group

  Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

  National Library of Australia

  Cataloguing-in-Publication entry is available from the National Library of Australia http://catalogue.nla.gov.au

  ISBN 978 0 7022 3133 9 (pbk)

  ISBN 978 0 7022 5231 0 (epdf)

  ISBN 978 0 7022 5232 7 (epub)

  ISBN 978 0 7022 5233 4 (kindle)

  University of Queensland Press uses papers that are natural, renewable and recyclable products made from wood grown in sustainable forests. The logging and manufacturing processes conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.