You were the lighter
heart of the Australian
soul, but you also became
a ball turning on life,
a mirror reflecting who we are
across years and generations
who were caused to laugh
and made to think and compelled
to feel uneasy even amongst
the delight and the wit.

Your characters danced
across the stages of the
world as us in microcosm
but universal in exploring
our desires, our deceit,
our wish for more to fill
the meaninglessness that
sits beneath our pretence.

Larger than life, a life
at large, cutting across
class, and all the sections
that divide us up and keep
us apart–in this you
found our humanity.

That’s the truth: you brought
us together in laughter, in
the incision of your wit,
and in your art, we found
something of our better selves,
a legacy that shall not quit.

 

Remembering Barry Humphries

23/4/2023