This week, the poetry spotlight shines once again on award-winning poet Geoff Goodfellow. This week’s poem comes from Waltzing with Jack Dancer: A slow dance with cancer. The collection was written by Geoff in the aftermath of his diagnosis with throat cancer, and chronicles his experiences with treatment, hospitals, and the Big C.

Post written by Maddy Sexton

The poetry spotlight series are usually written by the wonderful Poppy Nwosu, who manages to find meaning in poetry in a way that would make my year 12 English Studies teacher’s heart sing. Lucky Poppy is on leave this week, so the torch has been handed over to me. Here’s hoping no English teachers are reading!

I first met Geoff the same way many Adelaide folk seem to have done. He was a guest speaker at my school when I was in year 10 or 11, reading his poetry to us in between sips of water. At the time, I don’t think any of us paid Geoff the attention he and his poetry deserved. We were disinterested in poetry, and hanging out for our lunch break.

When I encountered Geoff through the comings and goings at Wakefield Press, I mentioned Geoff’s presentation at my school to Michael Bollen. He laughed – Geoff has been to every school in SA, it seems. Even now, more than ten years since that presentation to my class, he’s still at it.

Reading Waltzing with Jack Dancer now, I’m struck by Geoff’s grit that shines through the poems. Even when he’s writing about crying in pain, you can see his strength. I’m lucky to be able to take these poems in a second time around.

The thing that sticks with me most though is Geoff’s daughter Grace and her story ‘The Big C’. From her own perspective, Grace writes about Geoff’s journey with cancer and it’s far-reaching affects.

Grace was just 16 when Geoff was diagnosed, the same age I was when Geoff visited my school. As Brigid Lowry says, Grace’s ‘wise, funny, sad story … will move you deeply, unless you are carved from ice’. Pluck obviously runs in the family.

Geoff pops up everywhere, unbeaten by the cancer and picking new fights elsewhere. In his foreword for the book, Chris Kourakis recalls seeing Geoff after he was first diagnosed:

He was in a dressing gown and speaking softly. I thought he had met his match. I shouldn’t have worried. He had not been beaten. Rather like a wily old boxer he’d simply taken some shelter on the ropes while he sized up his opponent.

It’s obvious that Geoff is a fighter. Throughout the collection, he fights with doctors (‘The Seventh Doctor’), dieticians (‘Begging Bowl’) and his family. It’s the fight with cancer though that stands out the most.

And so brings us to this week’s feature poem.

The Calling

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Praise for Waltzing with Jack Dancer:

‘This collection is a survival narrative … It is both blunt and tender, and its honesty is amplified in the accompanying photographs.’ – Debra Zott, Transnational Literature

‘Waltzing with Jack Dancer – a slow dance with cancer is a terrific book; raw, honest and a real learning curve for anyone who has suffered a life-threatening illness, or any adversity in their life.’ – Chris Michaels, Cargo ART magazine

‘Essential reading, not just to patients, families and friends of those with serious illness, but to anyone. It is a straightforward, clear and engrossing read.’ – Anthony Draper, Australian Journal of Medical Science

For more of Geoff’s work, visit his website.

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