Everything except language
knows the meaning of existence.
Trees, planets, rivers, time
know nothing else. They express it
moment by moment as the universe.
Even this fool of a body
lives it in part, and would
have full dignity within it
but for the ignorant freedom
of my talking mind.
Les Murray – a well-known Australian poet who died today
… reminds me of another Geelong poet we know?
aroused 
Perhaps when any poet passes… the willows weep a heavier sigh…
May he rest in peace.
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lovely tribute thanks Jules!
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yes he was a very gifted writer!
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Thanks so much for sharing this one….
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my pleasure Ann, thanks for reading!
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Thanks for sharing Kate, I like the perspective that he puts on it.
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yes, a very interesting character Si …
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Did you know him well?
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Not at all Simon, I only heard about him when he died so then I did some research … that’s why I’m asking others who heard him talk.
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Words live, even when the author dies.
Fewer and fewer people write poems or less and less published volumes of poetry. I notice it in my country.
greetings
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😦 😦 😦
May he rest in peace.
I’m so glad his words live beyond him for present and future generations!
Thank you for sharing this tribute!
Yes, thinking of our poetIvor. 🙂
(((HUGS))))
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This is a brilliant poem!! I loved it thoroughly for what you are saying here. I do have this dilemma lately – most precious perceptions are seeming to be left unsaid best – words as if lessen them. And the more I am silent the more I am noticing the precious in the ordinary.
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I hear you on this one … why I don’t say much about meditation except for beginners … once you immerse yourself on a daily basis it goes way beyond words, it transcends … ❤
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……….true ……
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trying to verbalise such experiences detracts and somehow disperses the energy we did create …
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Thanks for sharing this beautiful piece, Kate. I just read about his demise on Paul’s blog.
Our man from Geelong is a wonderful poet, as are so many of my favourites from Australia. 🙂
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our environment gives us much fodder for writing 🙂
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What a great poem. Thanks for keeping his spirit alive.
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Nice choice Kate, given that there are so many, that is a great one.
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Beautiful poetic words so well composed, and this man was great with his words, Kate
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The great loss of a great bloke.
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Indeed David, were you also a fan?
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To be a lover of poetry,
living in Australia,
how could you not be!?
Les Murray is to poetry, what
Barry Humphries is to comedy.
Both stand apart & beyond
politically corrected society.
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interesting comparison coz I was thinking that they look quite similar
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And sadly, we will never see their likes
again (unless you catch a Dame Edna show)
for that Australia has produced it’s best,
and passed on into history.
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I have indeed seen live dame edna shows in London … but his caustic comments on transgender are cruel considering that’s how he’s made his living!
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May he rest in peace..and another poet in heaven….
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but he’s left a huge wealth of poetry, awards and publications in many languages Mich
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Reblogged this on Frank Prem Poetry and commented:
We lost a big fish today. Poetry is become a smaller place.
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Oh, what a wonderful poem. Thanks for sharing this here.
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Nice share Kate.
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thanks Frank, great opportunity to raise awareness of his talent 🙂
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Yep. I met him once when I was young (poet) turk. I followed him from appearance to appearance around Melbourne to try to get ‘inside’ the man that was such a legend.
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wow Frank what an incredible experience, so you have been a poet for ages?
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I’ve been writing for over 45 years now, I think, Kate. I started getting serious about it as a vocation in the late 1990s.
The occasion with Les might have been 2001/02. Something like that.
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that is some impressive record Frank, I had no idea you’d been writing that long … and what a blast to have followed Les so intensely … did you come to any conclusions as to what made him tick?
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Kate, he struck me as ‘just a bloke’ really. Idiosyncratic and broad as the side of a barn.
I was competitively encouraged, I must say, for all the good that it did me LOL
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