Community Visitors Scheme connects lovers of poetry

Georgie Jackson has been writing poems for 40 years, and with the help of her community visitor, they may well find their way into print.

Georgie, 87, came to the Bundaberg region in her early 40s and stayed 16 years. She and her husband were caretakers at the showgrounds.

Then she left town, and came back four years ago from Bendigo.

She has been at her Fairways home in North Bundy for 18 months and loves it there.

“They have a great facility,” Georgie said.

“But I felt a little isolated. I couldn’t get out much and had no one here but the family.”

That’s when IMPACT’s Community Visitor Scheme came to the rescue. Someone in the Fairways office had suggested it, so they got in contact with IMPACT and we sent her Tessa.

It was a match made in heaven.

Before COVID-19’s arrival Tessa visited Georgie every Friday for about a year.

“I made sure I made no other plans on Friday, that was Georgie’s day,” Tessa said.

“Since COVID we have to talk by phone now.  We talk a couple of times each week.”

She said she couldn’t wait to see Georgie in person again and had even got her flu vaccine, for the first time in her life, so she could visit at the earliest opportunity once restrictions allowed.

“It’s a genuine friendship now," Tessa said.

“I get more out of it than she does.

“Georgie’s a people person.

“They all fall in love with Georgie.”

Both ladies enjoy writing poetry, something Georgie has done since her early 40s.

“I had some bad side effects from blood pressure tablets and had to go into care,” Georgie said.

“While I was there I felt my mother’s presence and just started to write poetry. Later I found our old family bible and there were some verses in the back, and I found out they were Mum’s.”

When she was 72, Georgie went back to TAFE and learned "anything and everything".

“You never stop learning,” Georgie said.

She also paints and one of her artworks won a $400 art prize and is on show at the Bendigo Hospital.

Georgie has had a hard and varied life, being one of eight girls who then grew up and married a share farmer. That full, rich life is where all the poems come from.

But now the poems don’t come as easily as they used to. Perhaps sharing hers with her CVS buddy Tessa, who is also an avid poet, will get the pen flowing again.

“I’ve been blessed finding Georgie,” said Tessa, who wants a typewriter to compile all of Georgie’s poetry to share with everyone.

Before COVID-19 struck, Georgie and Tessa attended a morning tea for CVS participants and had a wonderful time. If she was more mobile Georgie would love to be a visitor herself, sharing her gifts with others.

IMPACT needs more volunteers.  If you want to volunteer call 4153 4233 or register at https://www.impact.org.au/forms/volunteer-today

One of Georgie’s poem:

Pine Tree

It’s spring and I’m in love with life

Although I’m only just a girl

I’m filled with an alerted rife

I feel this feeling sway and swirl

My head is full of things to do

Not chores like dishes, beds and floor

I wish I could explain to you

The longing to rush through the door

To climb a pine tree very high

Is really where I want to go

To smell the sap and feel the sigh

And look on family down below

There’s lizard’s basking in the sun

Old wombat in his hole asleep

The early morning’s just begun

All this beauty mine to keep

As I nestle here alone

The sunshine warm upon my face

All aspects of the day are gone

It truly is a peaceful place

I’ve day-dreamed here for quite a while

Time to me means nothing yet

It’s times like these that make me smile

I’d like to stay ‘til sun is set

But I must venture down it seems

To face the chores I left undone

For a while I’ll leave my dreams

And just pretend I’m having fun

I bravely face my mother’s scowl

I feel her hand smart on my seat

I’m so in love I cannot howl

I think about the blossoms sweet

I feel so good about the spring

It fills my days with love and joy

I’d rather walk the bush and sing

Than play with any man-made toy

It’s sad to think they punish me

It’s hard for me to comprehend

I’d rather climb up in my tree

And have a kookaburra friend

How serious my family are

One day I hope they’ll come with me

It really isn’t very far

There’s happiness up in my tree