A Writer’s Words
by Jennifer Crane

I watched a writer passing
a friend, a mentor
and as her body waned
she gave her verse into my hands
composed with a depth of grace and wisdom
I could never emulate.
I held the pages
typed neat, addressed, stamped and correct
ready to be released into the world
for those who could, to appreciate.
I knew those words
the truth, the strength, the humour
and I looked into her eyes to ask,
But what about the rest?
The words you wrote too powerful
that no one would accept,
the words that shocked and moved us,
the words created with the knowledge
you attempted to impress.
For when she spoke her verse, she glowed
her pain, her suffering forgotten
and we listened with anticipated awe
until the last full stop was spoken.
Though not a well-known writer, she was a writer
who shared her greatest passion
from the day when we first met.
She inspired her many students
with the pleasure of words
of prose and verse they never will forget.
I asked again
What happens, when you’re gone
to those words you keep beside you,
to the verse you have allowed so few of us to read?
She paused in thought, then answered,
Those words are not mine, they are borrowed
and they do not die with me
but return to the world to be reused
to tell another life, to fulfil another need.
I knew the time she passed
although I was not there
for I stopped and heard her words
released
to scatter, once more, into the air.

This poem received a ‘Commended’ award at the 2008 The Cancer Council of Victoria Arts Awards. With the theme of ‘Cancer,’ my poem was chosen as one of seven to be awarded in the poetry section from 125 entries from across Australia by acclaimed poet Jennifer Harrison.

I wrote this poem after the death of Lorna Ferguson who I met at the inaurgural meeting of a local writing group. After finding she also lived in Peachester, and with my late mother having suffered the same form of cancer, I offered my help. In return she proof read and edited some of my work meticulously correcting my written grammer. She had the ability to immediatley identify those areas where I knew something was wrong, but couldn’t work out what it was or how to fix it. She changed only one or two words and the problem was resolved.

She was passionate about every aspect of the written word and had produced throughout her life some touching and powerful works. Most were never published and now never will be.