The poem below is dedicated to the late Rani Middleton. It references her love of and wonderful way with words, her significant contribution to the Corrugated Lines writers’ festival, and her relentless radiance.
…
She was there
When a corrugated line
Was just a shine
In an eye
A glint of sun
Off the bay
Under that hitchhiker’s thumb
A reluctant Mum
But as they say
Build it and they will come
A hand on her belly
She smiles with uncertainty
Of what awaits
A road that corrugates
She takes a step
She breathes a breath
Of life
Of words
Love leapt up
Crept up
Like the tide
And she was swept up
On its wave
A pulsing power
Opening inside her
Like a flower
Something you can’t see
But you can feel
So you know it’s real
She loved to watch the dragonflies
Cross the wirralburu skies
They say that dragonflies can see
In colours we cannot conceive
Do you believe
That we could climb
That staircase to the moon?
It’s at its brightest
In the dark of night
Do you believe
A mysterious force
Drives us to write?
The spark of an idea
That won’t disappear
A seed that grows
And feeds
Us when we read
Maybe you
Have felt it too
While swimming through
The turquoise blue
A corrugated line
Snaking with divine allure
You’ve let it lure you in
You’re hooked
Between the pages of a book
Crossed into another world
A world that you can’t see
But you can feel
So you know it’s real
She breathed life
Into those lines
And she breathed something undefined
Something wondrous and divine
When the corrugations came
They couldn’t dull her shine
She wrote
She shared
Her life
Her words
They say the corrugations
In our lives
Make us stronger
But I wish that she had longer
In this world
Time
For life to etch its lines
In layers of smiles
Painted on
Colour over colour
Those we can discern
And those that burn
In eyes
Of dragonflies
She held
An inextinguishable radiance
Let’s not forget
The sun never sets
Its only us
Each day
Who turn away
She had to, one day
Stick her thumb
Into that bay
And hitch a ride
To the other side
She took a step
She took a breath
Of life
Of words
What voice did she hear?
She said it was not fear
But wonder
Where would her love go?
We know
That it’s still here
It grows
She never said goodbye
Instead she said
We’ll meet again
When
It’s time to watch the dragonflies
Cross the wirralburu skies
When all the salty rains
Have dried
Leaving beautiful stains
And somewhere
She remains
A force we can’t explain
Colours we can’t see
But listen and you’ll hear
A warm northern cheer
A soft southern laugh
A dry eastern whisper
A wet western call
The spirit of this festival
She will endure
And best of all
Even if you never knew her
You’ll know her
In stories
And in words
In a world
That you can’t see
But you can feel
So you know it’s real
