Lesbia Harford’s poetry was lovingly human, social, physical and spiritual. One of Australia’s truly great writers. We can learn from her. She died in her thirties and was buried at Kew Boroondara Cemetery.

I am in deep grief now for the death in April this year of my best friend, Anna Rumaderun, a young mum, who named her only son after me. Like Harford, Anna died in her thirties and is now buried in Ternate, Indonesia.

In a bewildered spirit of freedom, rewriting Lesbia’s poem Pink Dressing Gown, this slightly complicated concatenation of words words is for Anna (and Ms Harford too) :

l’d love to feel her looking up at me
Stretched underground
In a pink resting shroud
Her hands are by her side
Her hair all gone
I loved to see
I loved to see
her smiling back at me

Melihatnya memandang Aku/Senang Aku Senang. (Seeing her look at me, I was happy)

Berbaring bebas dia dari kesakitan/Nafasnya hilang (She is now lying free of her pain: her breath is gone.)

Kusenang melihat/Senyumnya padaku (I was so happy seeing her smile.)

Senyumnya padaku (her smile for me)

I hope to hear a better singer than I am singing the above words.

Geoff Fox a previously Registered Midwife and still seeking to live life with women. August 1st, 2025, Melbourne, Australia