Latest Articles
Used as cudgels in divorce actions, domestic violence orders all too often reward perjurers and ruin innocent lives
Sep 19 2024
36 mins
The vice-presidential candidate, like many former critics, came to accept Trump was ahead of the curve on economic nationalism
Sep 18 2024
17 mins
The punditocracy won't admit that, when it comes to Trump's sharp tongue, he's a novice compared to, say, Paul Keating
Sep 18 2024
4 mins
David Jeffery: ‘Adagio for strings’ and ‘No harbour’
Adagio for strings
Last night
I dreamed the clouds spoke French
Last night I dreamed
The world flew on with no recompense
Last night
I dreamed the light fantastic filled the air
Last night I dreamed
A million cups let loose on all despair
Last night
I dreamed a sonic blister caused no pain
Last night I dreamed
A coloured scar flicked over yet again
Last night
I dreamed the never wrong was never wrong
Last night I saw
A window closed, a sky in song
Last night
I dreamed a fashion victim’s world avenged
Last night I dreamed
An open sewer smelled of peppermint
Last night
I dreamed a sudden visit came to pass
Last night I dreamed
A roadside vestibule made of glass
Last night
I dreamed it all begin to make some sense
Last night I dreamed
A switchblade knife and someone’s voice intense
Last night
I dreamed a landscape covered in dead flowers
Last night I saw
I’d been awake the past ten hours
David Jeffery
No harbour
There’s no sky in this tumour
No desert in this heartbreak
The cry of a seagull, beaten
To the punch
By an awkward compromise
And fetish for small favours
Nothing to be proud of
There’s no lace in this curette
No distance in this romance
A needle dipped in semaphore and
Draped over the coals
To burst into redemption
There’s no harbour in this cold palace
No termites in these drawn clouds
The grasp of a feeble handshake
Torn to shreds
On the back of a well-cut suit
And a painted-on conviction
David Jeffery
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
