Watermelon
Pink lake
your sheared surface
glistens slick
as licked lip. Body
of water, you are
ninety-two percent
solid fluid,
brimful as a scuttled
canoe—unstable as
you take the shape
of any container
you’re propagated in;
Japan grows you
square for a sturdy
stack. Green sided
aquarium,
your still depth swims
a school of ebony
pips—or not
if we’ve doctored you
neuter as we would
breed fish boneless
if we could. What hope
do we have when
we fiddle the force
for renewal? Moss-
patterned boulder,
roll back
from the tomb’s black
hole. Pierced torso,
let your ooze
of pink water recall
the high heat of summer,
when we dove
into you and surfaced drip-
ping your sweet and
sticky from chin to
elbow—spitting a contest
of glossy black seeds …
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