Les Murray (1938-2019) Poem by Sheena Blackhall

Australia gave us kangaroos, cochlear implants
Koalas, boomerangs, the Barrier Reef
And Les Murray, whose mother miscarried
And died when he was twelve
Poet, anthologist, critic, novelist

He was one of a hundred Australian Living Treasures.
At 18, watching mayflies over the river,
He choose to have the future career of poetry

He went to uni, hitch-hiked round Australia
Read Virgil's Eclogues, became a Roman Catholic
Married a Budapest girl, started a family

A Bush-bard he was last of the Jindyworobaks
White Australians who nurtured indigenous ways

Praise be for "The Broad Bean Sermon"
Praise be for "Machine Portraits with Pendant Spaceman"
Praise be for Subhuman Redneck Poems
Praise be for The Daylight Moon
Praise be for Killing the Black Dog

In the poetry wars, he championed the man in the street
Not for a fey elite in a poetry club
He was one of the Boys Who Stole the Funeral
Of poetry, keeping it safe for those who love true words