THE MAGPIES by Denis Glover, read by Jasmine Low

The Magpies is one of the most well-known poems, depicting the everlasting and unchanging Magpie call (nature) as life happens (passage of time). It was written in only six stanzas by New Zealand poet, printer, publisher, satirist, sailor and boxer Denis Glover (1912-1980). And here's the most famous, benign line that seems so simple and yet time withstanding: -- "And Quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle/The magpies said," -- The Australian Magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen) is a black and white chesty bird native to Australia and New Guinea. Famous for their vocalisations that mimic the environment, Jasmine was targeted three consecutive times and was 'swooped' on her head while walking past a street in Zetland, NSW. When she recorded this from her mother's balcony in Sydney, there was surely a commotion, magpies were congregating from one tree then to another. What a loud and busy affair it was! The Magpies is read by Jasmine Low as a tribute to the nation, Australia, one of the luckiest countries in the world, her second home. She is neither native to the other land she calls home, Malaysia, but that is still her Motherland. The land where her mother and her mother's mother were born, bred and lived. They were the Nanyang Chinese who immigrated at the turn of the 20th century in search of a new home. As a fourth generation Malaysian Chinese now living in Australia, IDENTITY has been a lifelong quest. No land welcomes her home except in the quiet of her heart. Even there, appears a conflict of duality where an all-serving filial piety native meets a braver Mulan-like idealistic artist. Who wins? Not her but the Magpie will keep its calling true. Official podcast website: https://listenbyheartpodcast.wordpres... Also streaming on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | wherever you get your podcasts. Search for "Listen by Heart: Voices from the Women of the South China Seas" published by GoJasmineLow. Read the full poem: https://www.dpmms.cam.ac.uk/~tf/poem1... Listen to a Paul Kelly version of this as a song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-Xja... Experiential journeys begin at www.jasminelow.com