Cracking the Shits
spend Christmas day with his brothers
let Buddha budge from Nirvana
and spend Mother’s Day with his mother
let Mother Teresa leave the calm of Calcutta
and organise a wedding with her sisters
and you will hear language or silences
that are hot and toxic enough to make paint blister
you might think you are a saint
whom nothing human can ever again bother
but try going on a Father’s Day fishing trip
with your own or a facsimile father
and all your peace and love and wisdom
or your toughness of broken-toothed mutton
means nothing to them for there’s nothing
like family for pushing your buttons
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