The Gold Coast Bulletin
Poem from the heart
Ode helps lay Steve to rest
IN the world of Rupert McCall, the bloke who has been dubbed
the Poet Laureate of the Dinkum Aussie, the best work
flows spontaneously from the heart.
And his latest piece, The Crocodiles Are Crying which was
written two weeks ago about the death of Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin and its
impact on McCall's daughter Ella, has struck such a chord that it will be given
star treatment at the memorial service at Australia Zoo tomorrow and televised
live across Australia and around the world.
``They said that (Australian movie and television actor)
David Wenham might recite it at the service. There's also talk that it might be
Russell Crowe,'' said McCall last night.
He revealed that Irwin's Australia Zoo contacted him on
Friday after officials and Irwin's widow, Terri, had read the poem - which was
published in The Gold Coast Bulletin last Tuesday.
Of course he agreed, but Friday was a big day for another
reason for McCall too.
Wife Kate gave birth to the couple's fourth child,
McCall and Ella will be VIP guests at tomorrow's service.
His daughter will take her Irwin drawings to add to the huge
collection of tributes and flowers that have been left at the public `shrine',
which grew as fans trekked to the zoo after news broke that Irwin had been
killed off Port Douglas on September 4 by a stingray that panicked as he swam
near it and struck him in the heart with its barb.
``The best poems just flow out,'' he said. ``The best poems
are the ones that strike a chord. Ella is six and wasn't able to comprehend the
situation (when she arrived home from school in tears with the news of Irwin's
death).''
Like the Wiggles, Irwin had been a hero to the small child.
``To be hearing he was killed by a stingray, how could this
happen?'' he said.
``She came back the next day with drawings of crocs and
stingrays and so on.
``Kids get over the emotion side quickly - a lot quicker
than adults.''
In the days that followed, the teachers had talked about the
poem at school so Ella sat her father down and made him read it to her.
She seemed pleased that dad had picked up on her line: `The
crocodiles are crying'.
McCall, who has been entertaining Australians with
stirringly patriotic and sentimental verse for a dozen years, was still shaking
his head last night at how the poem had spread so rapidly via email.
As The Bulletin reported last week, the 35-year-old former
lawyer took less than an hour to write the nine-verse poem after a man inquired
on his website `feedback' section whether he had penned anything about Irwin.
He emailed the poem to the man later that day - the Wednesday after Irwin's
death - and within hours, copies were all over
``By that weekend, I was getting copies from the
Organisers of the memorial service
are refusing to reveal details for fear of it being turned into `a circus'.
Irwin's long-time friend and manager, John Stainton, said it was decided not to disclose information
about people performing during the service or who the VIP guests were so as not
to `cheapen' the occasion.
``People need to remember that it's a funeral service and we
want to do it the way Steve would have wanted us to do it, which is with a
minimum of fuss. I don't want it to become a circus,'' he said.
But Mr Stainton
revealed Terri Irwin was still struggling with her grief and might be too upset
to speak at the service, as originally planned.
Mr Stainton
said he would allow Terri and her daughter Bindi, 8,
to decide on the day.
Prime Minister John Howard and Premier Peter Beattie are
expected to attend, and John Williamson has confirmed he will sing True Blue at
the service.