Hal G.P. Colebatch: Janice B.
Janice B.
Seventeen years old.
I kissed you,
And you kissed me,
And (it seems unbelievable
When I look back)
I was too shy and gauche
To take it any further.
Why didn’t I think,
After that totally unexpected night,
To call you back next day, tell you
To dump your boyfriend?
Maybe you wondered why I didn’t phone you.
But I was so overwhelmed
That it never occurred to me,
Then knowing none of the moves.
And I have a memory
Of a totally unexpected night,
My seventeen-year-old ineptness,
And an occasional wondering
Where are you now?
Hal G.P. Colebatch
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