Monday, April 25, 2011

Stop The Clocks. Margaret has gone.

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Tuesday April 26, 2011

This morning, after breakfast at my local on the K, I was walking towards the shop to open up when Frances, one of the street’s perennial change collectors called out to me. “Did you hear? Margaret died last night.” I stopped in my tracks and sank to the seat next to Frances, something I have never done before. My relationship with K Rd’s alcoholics/glue sniffers/beggars has been one of polite distance for many, many years now. They know me, I know them, and so we know enough of one another to know where we stand: I don’t like being asked for change 5 times a day, and so they have pretty much given up on me. Also, as a survivor of my own family’s mental illness, I feel almost allergic to other people’s craziness. However, there remains some sort of familiarity/contempt on both sides; I have been a K rd local since I was 16 years old (I am now 32), and this street is a community, one way or another. There are icons walking this street. Icons of their own making, of which Margaret was one. We are one people at the end of it all.

Margaret. One woman, many rumors. I’m sure someone out there knows the truth about Margaret and how she came to be on K rd every day, rain or shine, drinking. Always drinking. The romantic story goes that she was a successful model in her youth, but was derailed by a severely broken heart, which lead to mental illness and chronic alcoholism. What I know for sure of Margaret: she was tough. She sat there on public benches on either side of K rd for at least 20 years and dealt with abuse thrown at her, with the other unpredictable street people and their various social sicknesses. She was funny: if she saw you coming with a cigarette in your hand she would put on her most charming demeanor and call out “Got a spare cigarette love?” If you refused there would be an almighty change of season: “WELL FUCK YOU THEN!”.

Margaret’s exterior was a decaying body, living. People on the street would remark to each other if she were looking more unwell than usual; people were concerned about this wild woman who lived firmly outside of society. At the end of last year there was a lot of talk around Christmas that Marg wasn’t looking too hot. She had broken her hip, her arm in a sling, and the color of her skin (usually pretty sickly at best) had turned a dark purple around the ankles. Still, for the raging alcoholic she was, Margaret looked not too bad really.

She died at home, I heard through the K rd grapevine. Our landlord, Glen, remarked that it was a blessing she didn’t have to sit through another freezing outdoor winter. Looking out onto the street today, the weather is hinting at what is in store for us in the coming months, and it will be cold. It will be colder without Margaret, for sure, for as another friend, Little Elliot said, she was like the sun, rising and falling, just something that is always there to be relied upon. Yelling, drinking, smoking, or just sitting quietly, as was her way these last few years.

Margaret – you certainly won’t be forgotten by anyone on K rd, ever. When people refer to K rd as a “character” street, as “edgy” and “bohemian”, it was largely a reference to you, really. You were the ironic saint of the street, an icon, and someone whose legend will undoubtedly live on for the rest of our lifetimes. For myself I can say this: I cried when I heard you were gone. Rest In Peace.
Sofia Mella

61 comments:

  1. beautifully written..a great and honest tribute..

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  2. That was an awesome tribute! As someone who lives around k'rd she will be sorely missed.

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  3. I wrote this poem five years ago. It was inspired my Margaret. I just found it again when I heard about her death. Seems even more fitting now:

    And there she was again.
    It looked as though she had been there all along.
    Waiting. Biding her time. Until that tragic moment when she would
    collect her courage,
    pack up her pride
    and rage revenge on the world that had treated her so very wrong.

    But until then she could only dream.
    And remember.
    And try not to.
    As her hair slowly lost it's underrated colour
    and the faint lines around her eyes deepened,
    she wept.

    But she knew better than to let people know.
    She wept on the inside,
    the tears trickling through her veins,
    slowly killing her.
    Yes, she knew.



    No one knows where she went.
    People whisper, people guess,
    people look the other way as people do.
    But of course, she's used to that.
    Her corner looked almost lonely.
    Not even the most daring,
    the most desperate,
    took up residence at her place.

    So there it remained.
    Reminding the world of a mistreated soul
    that never really had a chance.

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  4. And there she was, gone. I worked in the George Court Building for a couple of years, Margaret was always around and abouts, mostly in the same place. Never had a bad word from her, had a few mumbles of thanks for the gold coins.

    It just reminds us all the season change and we grow up.

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  5. This is truely sad, I had many a cigarette with Margaret back in 1996 when i lived in St Kevs Arcade....RIP

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  6. I came across this Eulogy through a friend, I am sad for you but happy that people like you are out there. Well said!

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  7. What a thoughtful tribute. Unnerving and sad to think about the empty bench but the respect/memories being shared makes me grateful I live in a community that honours its own, even those on the fringes.

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  8. She once - in the nineties I think - wandered down as far as the waterfront and got into some scrap there. Hard to think of that part of K Road without her.

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  9. A beautifully written tribute to K'rds greatest icon. She is an irreplaceable part of K'rds history/culture and will be missed. RIP Margaret.

    @smileifyouregay, I like the poem

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  10. Brilliant and honest. A true and poignant tribute to the presence of this woman. I remember her very vividly from when I walked to work daily along K'Rd and I remember very clearly the day she threatened to blow me up with bombs because I offered her the freshly lit ciggi in my hand instead of stopping to roll her one lol. It scared me a bit at the time but I now remember it as an amusing story of the Mad Meg on K'Rd... Definatly a lifelong legend.

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  11. Well said.... touching words. I wonder if she ever knew that her passing would have this affect on the public that most days walked past her but silently where happy she was there. She will be missed.

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  12. I gave Margaret a dollar once. She asked for a cigarette. I had none left. She threw the dollar back at me.

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  13. I never knew her. In fact have never been in K'Rd. What a lovely tribute to her. Beautifully written!

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  14. very generous and sensitively written piece, maybe some day we will learn Margaret's true story, among other things i had heard was that she had been a model/rich/had a wealthy daughter somewhere etc etc. m oldest son julian (now in london, aren't they all?) wrote a piece about her for his band Stayfree Carefree many years ago and it was on their album. oddly enough two days ago i looked it out to use as a pre-record on my Kiwi FM show and that prompted us to wonder about Margaret and who she was and where she was. Now sadly we know just that little more about a mysterious woman.

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  15. New York had the twin towers, Auckland had Margaret. Beautifully written tribute to her. Thankyou.

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  16. Saw her a lot when I worked behind George Courts in the 80's. Pointed her out to my sons a few years ago when we went through K rd for an outing.

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  17. I will always miss her saying so nicely 'Have you got a dollar darling' and if you politely refused there would be the constant muttering from her down the road about what a FUCKING liar you were until the next hapless person was asked ...will miss you Margaret. Glad you're at peace now, hope your glass and flask are with you and your always present ciggie...

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  18. awesome tribute! i had also seen her many a time.

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  19. Beautiful tribute Sofia. I wondered where she had been as she seemed to have abandoned her post outside Iko Iko/St Kevin's the last few weeks! . Very sad indeed but nice to know she will be missed & wasn't just a faceless ghost.

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  20. Sofia

    Thanks for that beautifully written piece and for the sad news. My experience of Margaret was like everyone's I guess - at arm's length. And you are right - we are the poorer for her passing.

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  22. I remember Margaret from when I worked at George Courts in the late 70's/early 80's. A lovely tribute to one of life's more colourful people. R.I.P. Margaret.

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  23. Well said Sofia - what a great obituary. I'm grateful to have come across this - I remember Margaret from when I was a drama student going to classes most nights during the week and hanging out on K'Rd during the weekend - that was 1986-1989. More than 20 yrs ago - she certainly been an iconic feature of the street. I hope she knew somehow that people would remember her. I hope she went in peace too. (Ruth)

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  24. A beautifully written tribute to a true individual who will be much missed, thank you. Don't know how many smokes she purloined from me over the years, it was surely a few packets worth, but they were never grudgingly given - though often grudgingly received. Bless her.

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  25. What a wonderful tribute. I will always remember Margaret. I loved the stories about her and missed her when she moved or didnt come back to Ponsonby Road. Loved running into her on KRd. Auckland is all the poorer for Margarets passing.

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  26. What a beautiful tribute to a colourful lady who used her colourful language toward me many a day in the early 00's when I worked at Cairns Slane and walked along K'Rd.
    I wonder if we will ever find out her story? I 'heard' she was a nurse . . .

    Thank you for remembering her.

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  27. OMG - I remember Margaret from the late 80's. I used to work in central Akld and used to see her all the time in Queen St - and yes, if she saw you with a cigarette she would surely ask for one in her best voice. Wow, she has done really well to make it to 2011. She must be in her 60's now.....RIP Margaret, you will be sadly missed.

    Thank you so much Sofia for you beautiful tribute.

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  28. lovely tribute I bike through K rd a lot and I remember her from the early "90's and she will be missed as she was a real character REGARDS

    Ted

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  29. Beautiful words, thank you for sharing. Margaret was a true icon to K'rd and will be missed by so many. Over the last 20 years I've been overseas and back again, and always felt at home when I saw Margaret walking along the road! :) Won't be the same at the next First Thursdays event. :( R.I.P.

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  30. Beautiful tribute to a mysterious woman - i'd love to hear her true story one day.

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  31. Isn't it amazing how many people knew of her?

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  32. i was a k rd local in the late 90s and remember her well my partner at the time talked to her often and i remember she was once rich with family i agree with all thye coments here ive been in wellington for the last 6 years and we have blanket man down here people that dont live by the system intrigue me and gives an area a kind of appeal ,i miss jaffasville and have only been back once in the last ten years i saw her and felt like i never left....

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  33. Beautifully written. Haven't been home for a few years but saw (and "talked" to) her many times down K rd and Ponsonby Rd... We were also sent to her room in the hospital once - she had the same surname as my family.
    Thank you for sharing with us Sofia.

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  34. Wow!! Awesome!! poem.

    Its ppl like you that I wish their was more of in this world..Bless You♥
    Mareta

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  35. in the late 70s/early 80s as a kid, my sister and i were intrigued with the vibrant alternative underworld that is Krd. Our parents wked on Airdale st off Queen & often we would venture to that place of interest & witness margaret asking for money..id give my last dollar to anyone that needed it. I gave her all my space invader coins to fund her vice..rest in peace now margaret. x

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  36. Just heard the news in London! so sad - she's been on that bench as long as I can remember!
    We even mentioned her in a song we wrote when we were teenagers - I wish I could find a recording of it now!
    Rest in peace Margaret.

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  37. Had several conversations with Margaret, and usually lucid and clever before lunch. A knowing look, an experienced life, not too interested in deep and meaningfuls, but a quaint sense of decorum and politeness until the days alcohol intake worked its required oblivion. I respected you Margaret, more than some I met.
    Arohanui, Bern

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  38. she was a regular visitor to the "gluepot," she used to walk into the public bar and wander around helping herself to peoples drinks and cigarettes whilst they were seated there, she also won a large lotto, enough to buy her the fur coat she was often seen in ponsonby road wearing.

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  39. I will miss Margaret. Often wondered how she ended up in K Road an alcoholic, thought she had a certain sophistication about her.... Once I asked if she would allow my daughter to take some photos for her school assignment on people on K Rd. She barked ''how much''! I always gave her money at Christmas Time.
    RIP Margaret. You will be warmer and happy where you are.

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  40. I live on Queen st. and often walk along K' rd. I always see her there. I only smile at her when she asked for a spare change. I wish I paid more attention to her. RIP Margaret.

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  41. I was a student at Auck Girls Girls Grammar in 1981-82 and came across Margaret often at the bus stop there on the viaduct. My introduction to the real world, I was terrified of her initially but over the years her presence became calmly familiar. Rest in peace now.

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  42. My friend Gary invited her home for Christmas Dinner one year. She was charming.

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  43. Awwww... this is a FANTASTIC tribute to her... I wonder what she would think about all of this... she was on the news tonight... she is on HEAPS of peoples facebook status and now all these posts... I wonder if she knew how many people noticed her... i hope so... moe mai ra e kui, moe mai ra xxx

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  44. Far out, it is a trip down memory lane for sure. I remember Margaret sitting on the bench seat on the corner of the street my mum lived on, corner of Vermont st and ponsonby rd. That was in '94. Brown paper bag in hand, lipstick and fur coat. It is hard to imagine she has been sitting there everyday for all these years...amazing! RIP Margaret x

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  45. RIP Margaret!...last time I saw Margaret walking down the street in Auckland - earlier this year- she smiled at me and said 'you look so beautiful' and kept walking...nice!! thanks Margaret :)

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  46. RIP Margaret, you were not content to just feed colonies of cats or prune roses in your twilight years, you were out pounding the pavement looking for a ciggie or some loose change. What a resilient and tough gurl you were, you didn't have support workers coming to your unit to make you cups of tea, you wanted whiskey. I would have loved to know where your mind would wander while you sitting on Karangahape Road.

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  47. a perfect tribute, and an eye opener to us humans about what we think we appreciate and what we actually do, I never knew i was so emotionally invested in this woman until she has now passed. Someone needs to take up the challenge and investigate her true story, I think this is worthy of a documentary, its like the big question that everyone who knew of her has always asked "what is her story and how did she get to this"???
    She was always something I looked for, a pleasent surprise.
    RIP Enigmatic Lady
    xxx

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  48. What an excellent tribute and a nice piece of writing. I'm sure I've seen her keeping watch on K Road for more than twenty years, at least from the late 80's. Sometimes I gave her money or ciggies, but mostly I didn't, I never saw her temper though. I used to see her with another K Road local from time to time, an older trannie who doesn't seem to be around so much these days.

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  49. Those we appreciate in this life never truly leave us, she will live on in our memories, a true charachter!! and will be missed and remembered in thought and conversation for many years to come .. Blessings RIP Margaret

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  50. How sad. I remember the first time that I met her I was about 14 and was smoking in the bus stop. She definatly was an actor because I was semi hiding from her thinking she was a sweet old nana. Until she asked me for a cig and I said no sorry - Oh fuck ya then she said. I think I was a bit shaken. As I walked to the next bus stop.

    Shes one of those people you dont even think about until you see her and mention her to a friend - Im sure many of you have? Or until shes gone.

    Rip Margaret x

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  51. Used to see her every day when i worked in Pitt Street back in 1988... she was never mean to me... i didnt smoke... bought her a coffee one shitty rainy day and she said "thats good of you love" ... Rest in peace Margaret.

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  52. i remember her well...RIP margaretx

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  53. I remember a short film being made in the mid 90's - Jac Fitzgerald and I think Stephen Ball were involved in it?? It must be around somewhere - it was a "mystery" - tales of who Margaret was and what the myths were around her life. It would be great to unearth it.
    I had seen her around Gladstone road, Parnell recently catching a bus to "work" on Krd...sadly missed, Margaret. x

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  54. Sad to hear this... Living on K Rd, Margaret was a part of our daily routine as she sat outside Lim Chour contemplating the world go by.

    Having a 9am red wine & a ciggie to her memory...

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  55. I 1st met Margaret when i was a teenager working at the Montrose Coffee Lounge in the Downtown Bus Terminal in the early 1980's. She always wore her long red velvet coat, had matted hair and often came in for a coffee and was famous for harrassing our customers for "ciggies"and food. She'd often sit down at a table with a customer and help herself to their food, reaching across the table with her long talon fingernals! We'd have to ask her to move on and would get a mouthful from her!!
    She must have changed her haunt to K'Rd after Britomart was built and the Montrose was demolished. I'll always remember her she was a character.... RIP Margaret

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  56. As a nervous teen jigging school or going about my young adult business in K Rd I was frightened by the brash request of a ciggie or a coin...

    As someone said in an earlier post, I wish I had paid more attention to her. I do remember her.

    I feel sad that the world is without her. I feel happy she is at peace. RIP Margaret. I do hope we hear your real story one day. I am sure there is a tale worth telling about Margaret.

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  57. Hey Cookie... on Monday 25th I couldn't work out why you came to mind and I resolved that the next time I see you I'm going to see if I can find out who/what sent you to the 'edge'. Then I learnt of Your passing and realised how powerful 'great thoughts' can be. I read in the papers that you had had a couple of serious traumas earlier in Your life - it answered my 'wonderings'.
    Although I didn't often run in to You in these latter years, I will think kindly, genteely and fondly of You and recall our basketball-team and school-days at St. Pat's in Panmure with a knowing smile. Girl, You were always a straight shooter and I don't just mean with a basketball. Pocivao U Miru. Jenny-wenny.

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  58. I knew her quite well and many other homeless peeps. I remember as an ACSK :) Troubled youth and all that stuff, living on the streets of Auckland was the go and still is for those who chose to remain. when I say I knew her, it wasn;t as if we were mates it was jut an understanding the different groups street people had. It's amazing how people have forgotten those days..Margaret lived and died a street person ! Truly an Original to the core !! Peace up Margaret and may peace finally find you! ( Sir Loco ) Emile

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  59. ooops the above don't read right. I was an Auckland City Street Kid...Not M. Those were the days.

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