Nana Ollerenshaw: The Horizontal Woman
The Horizontal Woman
Peacock bright
in spinnaker smock
she looms, higher than on feet
she can not use,
a wider bed installed
to stop her frequent heavy falls.
Tiny helpless hands
flutter at the fancy 3D cards
she loves to make,
another one of her escapes.
“Visitors” are staff
she’s set herself to know
or volunteers, drawn in by what they find,
pain put aside,
the wit they hadn’t guessed.
Serious at shopping,
she keeps her orgies secret
if drawers provide the space
to hide excess: oranges, apples, grapes and berries,
king chocolate blocks, fudge and cakes, cream biscuits,
bars and candy, recipes with pictures,
reams of sticker packs
to make her cards, all manna
hanging from her handlebars.
The hooded eyes, impassive face, the tinted
scruff of hair, sheer size
belie the unexpected: worldly, travelled, opera lover
football fan and gambler
wise, sensible and well clued
and rabid devotee of food!
Nana Ollerenshaw
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