sunday scribblings, dverse, poets united
Dame Joan Sutherland 1926 - 2010
they don't know
you used to live there
in the old house on queen st
still derelict behind the wall
they rush around
in their 4 wheel drives
always frantic with kids in tow
they walk past it everyday oblivious
drinking lattes at zigolini
they don't know la stupenda
practised her scales in there
before she got on the bus to
st catherines school and later
in the afternoon wandered down the hill
to swim in the bogey hole at bronte
they don't know
a shrine should be built for you there
to celebrate the 20th century's greatest voice
i buy my fish across the road
three years ago this month you left
i leave a flower on your wall
and still see your dreams smiling
at me through the front gate
i lower my eyes and whisper
thank you for everything
Queen St Woollahra Joan's House
Bogey Hole Bronte Beach
St_Catherines_School-1a.jpg)
St Catherines Waverley
Zigolini Queen St Woollahra
The memories linger on for someone dear to one's heart! A fine tribute Rallentanda!
ReplyDeleteNicely!
Hank
Perhaps unknown shrines are the best..a little nod to the ones that keep us going..and larfing at the world ;)
ReplyDeleteThank you Jae...I'm nodding back. " Humour is the weapon of the oppressed. " What Elie Weisel neglected to say ,was, that it makes the oppressors so infuriated that they make it their life's work to want to kill you But, it's worth it :) ! You do realise of course that an oppressor cannot ever have a sense of humour ...it is not in the nature of oppression.
DeleteSo true..thanks for your wise words of advice..
DeleteI remember John Cargher playing a piece of music sung by both Joan Sutherland and Julie Andrews. Separately. With Julie, you could understand every word (ve-ry cris-p-ly, move your lips!) and it was nice enough. Joan? Well you couldn't figure out what the words were but it was divine!
ReplyDeleteReal musicians do not listen to libretto( Incidental ) the music speaks its universal language.Julie Andrews in the same breath as our Joan( shame on you:) I was fortunate enough to see her several times at the Opera House She was the best bel canto of her age and the only one who could sing Casta Diva in the original key. Great Aussie lungs produced from swimming in the Bogey Hole as a child. Comme moi. Except I only sing karioke after a few snifters. Because she was not a sports person she does not receive accolades... the best thing about this country is that it is so high culturally arid that we are bound to produce another classical music world beater. When desert plants are starved of water their blooms are the brightest and most magnificent.
ReplyDeleteI heard Rostropovich say this of Soviet Russia...music was the only salvation in their lives.
Thank heavens we have such Australian icons as Joan so the pretenders are less than dust beneath the chariot wheels (as my Latin teacher said, probably of me)
ReplyDeleteLatin teachers are dinosaurs now!
ReplyDeleteIn flagrante delicto !
The only Latin that springs to mind.
Oops......Courtney Act!
my latin teachers name was lola
DeleteYeah I know...Lola Lypsinka !
DeleteThis is a beautiful tribute Ralletanda!
ReplyDeleteThank you Gabriella!
DeleteSo thoughtful:) we should always be thankful indeed.
ReplyDeleteYes indeed!Thanks Vandana.
DeleteA fine example of a tribute poem, thank you for creating and sharing it.
ReplyDeletestill see your dreams smiling through the gate....that is pretty cool....so many stories that people will never know until we tell them the significance of the place...and made me thing as well of moving into a new home and not knowing the stories that once filled it...or the significance to those that just left in every little nick and crack...which we promptly paint over to make it fresh for us...
ReplyDeleteOld houses have stories...destroyed by unsympathetic renovations.
DeleteThank you N A.
DeleteWhat a wonderful tribute. I love that you left a flower on the wall....the photos are so great - I really get the sense of that neighborhood, that she enjoyed when she was alive.
ReplyDeleteIt was her childhood home. She lived elsewhere when she became famous.
Deletefine work, Rall ~ M
ReplyDeleteThank you, thank you, for the music I lived without not knowing and for the poem that swirls the history/place that infused Sutherland with strength and magic. Wow.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this lovely comment Susan. I am glad you enjoyed the poem and the music!
Delete