Tony Cousins: ‘Boyd Vickery’ and ‘My Mother in Her Last Years’
Boyd Vickery
An old-fashioned storefront, with plain tables
And unvarnished floors, was pretty much
His home. He bought and sold unusual books,
Dealt with odd dealers and obsessed collectors.
His passion was the horses. His collection—
Paintings of colonial racing scenes—
Stayed out of sight, kept in a private room.
Discernment shaped it, born of love and knowledge.
But he knew much beside, which he shared
Without pride or rancour. Gentlemanly,
Quick-witted, generous, and fond of a joke,
He watched the world drift past his shop in Redfern,
And into it. Everybody knew him.
No one was his enemy. He survived
Into alien times, and moved on.
Tony Cousins
My Mother in Her Last Years
Brightly dressed, refusing to be humbled
by physical decline, and ignoring
its whispers about nursing homes and death,
she’d read, take day trips, stare across the trees
toward the distant city and the harbour.
Cautious steps would gradually take her
to a local café. There she’d chat
about her war…
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.
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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
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2 mins