Geoff Page: Two Poems
On Cuteness
Each language has a word for it,
separately invented.
Lorenz established babies need it
simply to be fed.
Puppies have it in abundance,
small and wobbly, well-disposed.
Toddlers who are cute themselves
can recognise their simulacra.
“Isn’t she a little cutie?”
the world must sing in unison,
encountering the mother
stopping on a street.
Teddy bears are said to have it
but never quite succeed.
Almost everyone who’ll read this
once was cute but is no longer.
So where does all that cuteness go?
Mostly, it is handed down,
sibling through to sibling.
She who steals big sister’s share
will never be forgiven.
Bossiness is all that’s left.
Kings Cross may offer minxiness
but that’s another word.
Cute can be pejorative—
the “don’t you come all cute with me!”,
the “wasn’t she too cute by half?”—
but that is not the granddaughter
burbling in a stroller or
grandson who, with backwards smile,
crawls towards the door
or tries his undecided legs
from chair to chair to…
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