Tides later and the duffle bag of poems has arrived safely in Melbourne. Master Robert Bailey of the M.V. Victorian Reliance journeyed through the night waters with our bag and, on the way, even penned some poems with his crew. These poems will be included in our final collection.
We invited media to profile the handover but, if they did, it seems they were more thin than the wind as we couldn’t see them. The reduced crowd at the Melbourne arrival, however, meant an impromptu invitation to visit on board, with the Master.
With lemon safety vests and poems close to our chests we entered the ship’s body, so huge it can fit trucks, farms, families and an infinity of sea echo. Petra White was the center of our attention for she had come to deliver her exquisite poem, written for our project. Petra made her stage in the control room. The walls were glass and you could see sea and ships from all directions. The crew and visitors circled around Petra whilst the ship rocked gently as Petra read her poem. The event was also an opportunity for those present, including a school teacher with about ten poems by her students, to read their duffle bag submissions.
The next stage was that the Iron Monarch would sail the bag to Port Kembla. This is no longer possible as the duffle bag has torn itself and must be sewn together using expensive wires, before it can make the next leg of our journey. To allow the bag time to convalesce we are holding off on our Wednesday arrival and instead making the departure from Port Kembla, the focus event. The departure date will be on October 25th and if this date changes, you shall made aware.
