Helen Cobb
Helen Cobbis a participant in Poetic Portraits, an intergenerational creative project to showcase the creative talent and diverse life experiences of different generations in Monash.
Helen Cobb is a long-time resident of Glen Waverley, having lived here for over 60 years.
She writes poems that share everyday experiences and daily happenings with her family and friends. She enjoys celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, important milestones and special events in verse - if it's happened or needs to be acknowledged in some way, Helen has probably written a poem about it!
Her family members love receiving her special poems as a gift of words from a special lady. Her poetry is about everyday experiences and the people and places which matter most in her life.
MY GOLDEN KEY
The ‘something special’ I brought with me today
Is a very special golden key,
It is a golden key made to celebrate a 21st birthday –
And no, that bit didn’t apply to me.
Gifted by a somewhat eccentric journalist lady
With a very special message to me, aged three:
She wrote a little message to go with it,
A message meant just for me, do you see,
She told me to slip it under my pillow,
And the fairies might come out that night;
They would take me to their house of dreams,
And I would have their company…or might.
So…her message of course…I didn’t need to feel lonely
If ever I was left to go to sleep by myself, at night.
Not only would family keep me company
But those little fairies would make sure I was all right!
A BIT of BOTH
You all know I am an old ‘Lady’ in my nineties,
But I am hoping for a few more years yet.
There are still many things I want to do, so…
I had better do them before I forget!
My memory is not as good as it used to be,
But thankfully, it is just the sort where I don’t remember.
At my age, there are many who have that other sort –
For instance, I can definitely say ‘I was born in December’.
Having said that, I can also go backwards,
Way back, to the time I was born…or almost,
Midst the great worldwide depression of those years.
But a reasonable memory is no reason to boast.
That depression was the reason my parents went to Adelaide;
Their work meant I stayed behind in Sydney town.
But I had loving grandparents who looked after and loved me.
The two I lived with, and a grandfather who visited on his own.
I absolutely never felt abandoned, at all –
Why would I, when surrounded by family and their love,
So, I am really very, very grateful
For all the reasons I have told you, above.