Archie moments

I am a bit sad that I did not see Uncle Archie Roach perform at Musgrave Park Family Day but that is life with young children.  I have seen Uncle Archie perform many times throughout the years and find it hard to miss him performing.

One great memory was a Black Arm Band performance at QPAC (Queensland Performing Arts Centre) in Brisbane where Uncle Archie and others were amazing!

My daughter (9 years old) has enjoyed Uncle Archie’s performances with me at GOMA (Gallery of Modern Art) in Brisbane although our $17 cheese platter did not last long.  We also attended the first Boomerang Festival near Byron Bay in 2013 where Uncle Archie was the highlight.  I can remember being freezing cold there too but that didn’t take away from his soulful performance.

I have seen Uncle Archie several times at the Woodford Folk Festival.  An outstanding memory is of a magical morning having a cup of tea with Uncle Archie and his late life partner at my mum’s house with my two excited sissy’s.  That is definitely a hard memory to top.  My daughter again came along to the Woodford Folkie ’14 and enjoyed his performance.

I am hoping to add to these memories this year!

Institutionalised

Conforming to the sub-culture.

Hiding my culture.

Not being able to leave.

Tolerating people around you, not liking them.

Saddened to not have made any change.

Being blindly loyal and eventually accepting that this is one sided.

Being fooled into believing I can’t do any better for myself.

Wanting to quit but avoiding making that decision.

Feeling like I keep on making the same mistake.

Accepting to live with stress and the damage it does.

Pretending to like the person created.

Pretending to like my environment.

Accepting this is a part of my life.

Knowing it’s time to break free.

Making new decisions.

Being self aware.

Only looking ahead on new path.

Feeling liberated.

Posted from WordPress for Android

Poetry night with Lionel

Moving back to the Brisbane area and baby number three growing more independant has brought about a positive change for me.  This change being living close enough to my girlfriends and close enough to an interesting and inspiring arts scene.

As much as I enjoy trips out with my kids, I really value time with good friends experiencing a night at the theatre or an art exhibition. I have found social media very informative and have attended events at GOMA, QPAC and festivals such as the Boomerang festival because of it.  So when Riverbend Poetry series no 3 featuring Lionel Fogarty, popped up on my newsfeed, it drew my interest. I haven’t attended a poetry reading before and either had my girlfriends, however I have collected some of Lionel’s earlier works.

I also had not visited Riverbend Bookshop before but friends who have rave about it, and it is situated on a great street if you love food (like I do).  So after arriving to a full house we listened intently to the first three poets – Krissie Kneen, Jennifer Compton and Alice Night who also sings.  The crowd filling the verandah of Riverbend Bookshop responded warmly.

Then the host introduced, ‘Legendary Lionel.’  Lionel delivered his poetry in his own distinctive style which drew the audience in.   Lionel’s readings were loudly applauded and Lionel appeared to respond positively to this.  

The audience was suprised but enjoyed Lionel taking an impromptu selfie with the hosts and also of the audience. After the official readings were concluded Lionel again held the audiences interest explaining the background and politics relating to the new anthology, ‘The Intervention,’ which includes his work. The host queried, ‘When will Lionel be on Q and A?That would be one popular episode!’

I then purchased Lionel’s new poetry book, ‘Eelahroo Nyah Mőbő-Mőbő’,and was feeling pretty lucky to get my copy signed by the man himself.

Our night was topped off with a wood fired pizza and ice cream. A great night had all round.

(Loved the shirt!)

(Above – my Lionel collection is growing)

The Queensland Poetry Festival was also launched after the readings. Listening to Lionel again has appealed to me. Next outing may be to, ‘Treaty,’ at the JWC.