Godsend
Just when I was feeling it was all too much,
I woke up to snow. The dog in a drift
gave me my first smile as my eyes
encountered the garden.
She was eager for a walk
so we ploughed our way out, and all
around the streets were shouts
from children, with sledges and snowmen,
while their parents talked
on doorsteps or mended things
that had waited for a day like this.
A boy confided,
as he patted the dog, “it’s like Narnia now”,
and I saw, with a shock we were
out of the wardrobe, every branch
laden, proud.
“If only it were Christmas,”
a small girl sighed, “it would be perfect.”
Tomorrow,
as warm air invades, this snow will melt
to reveal the debris underneath,
but as I took off my gloves and put away
the lead, I leaned, for just a second,
against relief.
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