Blair Donaldson: A local son and hero

Blair Donaldson: A Foster son

Memorium
July 2016


Ninety five percent quaddy# disabled
like Icarus landed badly
sadly hang glide crashed
when he was only twenty
smashed his youth
Thirty years wheelchair bound
able to lift a spoon
but only just
Blair never made a fuss
or drew attention
more than a man in his condition must
the things he couldn’t do
that others needs be
for him did
his parents Dot and Ewen
in sadness as much as love
gave so many years of doing
for their beloved son
that he could live and hope
even still to sing his song
to make his mark and to belong
and even so to get things done
that many abled would not
took on the windy NIMBYs*
working his turbine blog
Friends of Future Generations
to douse the ideological smog
from fossil smokers high on coke
who just never got the joke
that wind farms
aren’t methane plants
for sustainable farts
but a cleaner and greener future
that Blair would never see
quaddies rarely make old bones
Yet the stones he threw into the waters
of his times
ripple on
inside the minds
of those who knew and loved him
miss him still
all his many friends and kin
and those who knew him not
but heard his voice
saw his vision
helped them to make
important life decisions
perhaps
to walk the path he trod
and light our way
as he once did.

Bless the memory of a man
who could withstand
the worst that life
could slam at him
he proved his worth
gave us hope and dared to say
that yes we can
dear Blair
Farewell.

The short story that I wrote back in 2009, 'Windblown Tales from the Coast' (https://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1590484-WindblownTales-from-the-C...) was built around Blair. He is the 'Simon' character in the little township of Foster that is not far from the 'controversial' Toora wind farm and one of the most iconic locations in Victoria (Australia), Wilson's Promontory.

# 'Quaddy' is an Australianism for quadriplegic.

* NIMBY is an acronym for 'Not In My Backyard'.