Last Rite for a White
What rite gives him the right to write
about his love for Africa:
after all he is only white
no made in Africa sticker
way before 1652.
Some say only black Africans
can go to the head of the queue
from where they can make amends
for injustices done in the past.
Does the same apply to others:
Afro American slaves cast
among “Red Indian” brothers?
But how can they love a land where
they have been but two hundred years:
just like the Australians here
how dare they, in a blink, shed tears?
I understand this argument,
the logic of it seems pretty sound.
What of Obama heaven sent,
will we deny him sacred ground?
Which half of him can we accept:
that part of him which is Kenyan,
perhaps the white part which is left,
or the bit that’s Indonesian?
Can only time give him the right
to love the place where he was born?
What about love at first sight?
Love is love, at both dusk and dawn.
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