On Teaching a Maths I.E.C. Class after Lunch
What do you see out of that window there?
As kookaburras and magpies lure you
Away from my lesson to places where
Your life’s dreams and desires once grew.
Come back you students from where you have gone!
To Asia, Africa and the Middle East;
It is time to put your Aussie clothes back on
And tuck into an Antipodean feast.
Now let my equations coax you all back!
From your deserts, villages and terrain:
Dragging you once more onto the right track
From the nostalgic reaches of your brain.
But who am I to ask these things of you
When to my Africa, my thoughts just flew!
Derek Fenton
Madam: Archbishop Fisher (July-August 2024) does not resist the attacks on his church by the political, social or scientific atheists and those who insist on not being told what to do.
Aug 29 2024
6 mins
To claim Aborigines have the world's oldest continuous culture is to misunderstand the meaning of culture, which continuously changes over time and location. For a culture not to change over time would be a reproach and certainly not a cause for celebration, for it would indicate that there had been no capacity to adapt. Clearly this has not been the case
Aug 20 2024
23 mins
A friend and longtime supporter of Quadrant, Clive James sent us a poem in 2010, which we published in our December issue. Like the Taronga Park Aquarium he recalls in its 'mocked-up sandstone cave' it's not to be forgotten
Aug 16 2024
2 mins