WEIR by KILLING HEIDI. Poem by Michael Leach.

 

Saturday 17 December 2022

Violet Town, Taungurung Country

 

Morning light reflects

off Murchison-Violet Town Road

and partially passes through

my aviators.

 

I ease off on the accelerator

as I reach Violet Town’s main road—

Cowslip Street—

and start to crawl past

Victorian and Edwardian buildings.

 

For the sake of safety and taste,

I make the snap decision

to stop for coffee

 

before hitting the Hume Highway,

before beginning the main leg of this long journey

from my hot hometown of Bendigo

to our cool bush capital, Canberra.

 

As I parallel park on Cowslip Street,

I pull off my aviators

and reflect

 

on Violet Town’s most famous exports:

Ella Hooper and her band.

 

Though I love the Gang of Youths track

sounding from that new CD in my old CD deck,

I find myself wishing

 

that I’d either packed my scratched CD

of Killing Heidi’s debut LP, Reflector,

or upgraded

to one of those modern car audio systems

with limitless listening options.

 

As the song and engine stop,

I suddenly find myself lost

in an ultraviolet memory

 

of Ella Hooper and her band performing

with trademark vigour

atop an outdoor stage in Bendigo

about 20 years ago.

 

I unexpectedly realise

I’d jump through electrified hoops

to return to my youth

for just a bit.

 

I walk dreamily past unfamiliar faces

toward one of V. Town’s quaint cafés,

all the while thinking

that my chances of seeing Ella Hooper

resplendent in her ageless beauty

here in her own hometown

are so slim.

 

Reaching the café counter,

I order a cafè latte from a young lady

then stand aside

to continue reflecting.

 

Crossing calm oceans of our differences,

I start to consider the creeks and rivers

that connect Ella Hooper and I.

I come to see

 

we are two writers and performers of verse

born in ’83 and raised in

regional Vic.

two people

who are now pushing 40,

who are now moving even further from youth

 

radio station Triple J’s

target demographic.

 

The barista soon interrupts my introspection

to announce my coffee is ready

to go.

 

Walking back to the car,

I ask myself those hypothetical questions

that Ella posed in the explosive chorus

of Killing Heidi’s first hit

‘Weir’.

 

I don my aviators,

ignite the engine

and, by way of reply,

assure myself

that I will make it

to all my destinations

in time.

 

Stereo Story #696

 

Ella Hooper’s new album Small Town Temple is out on 20 January.