Birds Bathing
The bird-bath on our balcony
has many visitors.
Two floors up at tree-top level,
discreetly screened by potted shrubs
and safe from predators,
it seems as if the birds have found
a sort of Baden-Baden
where they can drink and bathe.
Noisy miners wing in
usually in pairs, nervous
in their attitude to getting wet.
In they hop for a second,
then as quickly out,
with finicky flapping
to dry themselves
before they plunge again—
a performance they repeat
as often as thirteen times.
Different the solitary currawong.
He comes first for a drink.
A slow sip, then his yellow eyes
are skyward, lost in some reflection.
Now and then, although too big,
he takes a bath and a tidal wave
slaps over the rim,
sloshing the balcony floor.
Before the lorikeets venture our resort
they socialise in the trees, colours
bouncing in leafage as they maintain
a non-stop conversation. Bathing together
they wallow, water up to their necks,
so their olive greens and yellows, scarlets
and ultramarines seem freshly painted,
shining, dripping wet.
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