Graham Walker: ‘Roundel on a Piece of Driftwood’
Roundel on a Piece of Driftwood
Our lives are told in the run of ebb and flow,
keen edge and dull, sharp summer shade, blunt winter cold,
of light and dark, laid down inside us. And so
our lives are told
as this driftwood’s is, its story clear. Old
seasons there—soft spring-wood hollowed, worn down low,
fall-into-winter thinner, tougher, bold
as sinews flexed for a harder striving. That slow
hard-going stiffened, braced it—saved it—left shore-shoaled
and stranded. We have seasons yet, but know
our lives are told.
Graham Walker
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