About the Poet


Margaret Glendenning

What an amazing thing to give someone for a birthday present! My only experience with 'websites' before this has been those intricate creations appearing overnight in neglected corners, usually inhabited by a patiently watchful 'Daddy Longlegs' spider!

My family is wonderful. I love them all. They are also sneaky, deceitful and careless with the truth. How else could I describe people who have been systematically nicking things from my cupboard drawers and computer without my knowledge?

I cannot remember when I first tried writing verse, however scraps of rhyme and sketches of horses habitually decorated my primary school books. My parents always had a love of music, poetry and reading . I have been told of their popularity at local dances when they were going out together. My father sang all the favourite songs of the time in his light tenor voice and my mother readily recited poetry on request.

No television in my childhood. Our evenings were usually spent in the kitchen, our hands busy at some task while we listened to the radio.

Sometimes we sang - everything from the most recent hits to old tunes that were top of the list in my parents hey-dey and even before then. We took it in turns to read chapters aloud from books borrowed from the local library. And I can still hear my mother bringing the wonderful poetry of the most loved Australian authors to life for us . The 'Banjo', Lawson, Ogilvie, O'Brien and many others shared the warmth of our glowing stove in winter and painted pictures in my imagination that will last forever. If my children and grandchildren have inherited the love of the written and spoken word in whatever form, their lives will always be enriched .

A poem is not always planned. A chance remark, something seen or read, a memory awakened , a response to decisions made that don't seem to care for the human race or this beautiful world of ours. Some poems are based on actual events, others are pure fiction intended to just present an entertaining story usually with an Australian background. Words tumble around in the back of my mind and I reach for my pen.

Editor's Comment

My Mother is way too modest about her abilities and love of writing verse. Sometimes I find it hard to work on this site as I find myself bursting with pride and overflowing with emotion. You see, many of these poems are written about people and places I know and the warmth, or humour, with which they are treated touches me deeply.

Yes, all of my Mother's children have a been blessed with a precious inheritance - the love of the written word and the love of a special, talented lady.

Dianne Dean (nee Glendenning)

 

glenkerr@iinet.com.au