The sad news came in this morning that wonderful poet, mentor and friend to many, feminist, champion of human rights and Earth care, Judith Rodriguez has died. To honour her memory, Plumwood Mountain is reposting two poems published here, the beautiful ‘Benison’, and her telling ‘Lines of Galilee’ written in support of the Stop Adani campaign and appearing in the ebook hope for whole.
PEN International has posted a strong tribute to Judith here.
window of light
whether you close justly
or not
you are the way out of just-me
and the way in
#
my verandah shelves light
my trees hive light
what can I say?
me too, me too
#
Company at Cleeve Hill
the hills our elders
green green
trees worlds of life our eldest friends
thronging the fields hefters of sky
green
and the Rising Sun
its lit windows
#
waiting with garlands
at this or that ageless rock
this or that holy site
this or that shrine –
but unadorned
she comes to my disordered room
to my shadowed room
to my silence
shining
abundant
#
Judith Rodriguez
There’s a line of creation
from the land
to the Wagan-Jagalingou
from unpolluted seas
to the living Reef we knew.
There’s a line of production
from government bribes the people paid
to coal
to railways and jobs, that’s what they’re saying,
and votes.
There’s a line of destruction
from the mountainous rift
and promises politicians
and profit-takers cannot keep,
to the sludge of ports
smearing the ancient waters
shutting down the lives of the Reef.
The next line of finance
will not come from tourists
fronting a reef of bones
and inland the black hole
torn in land the people own.
Yes, dollars and votes cheer
coal’s three-century
industrial fantasy –
polluted air
and scarred earth’s misery.
But see: sun, water, wind,
and thermal flows,
earth’s ancient energies
rouse in the new century
to our aid, to redeem our heritage –
only
devotees of votes and money
we will not hear
what the imperilled earth has said.
Judith Rodriguez
Vale Judith. She gave this editor of Plumwood Mountain journal the impetus to give energy, time and love to the poetry that calls her forth. Many others will feel similarly.
Anne Elvey
Managing Editor
23 November 2018
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Vale Judith. She blessed Brisbane with her presence in her youth and many times after. Always a beacon of integrity, she lives on in our works and lives which she enhanced with her generosity.
Vale Judith. An inspirational woman and poet. Thanks for sharing the news, Anne.
RIP Judith… your inspiring poetry will live on forever…