Leaf Days
Sweet season of the kaffir lime’s
pale, abundant leaf: catch its tang.
The coriander’s going to seed
so plant more, there’s still time.
Find more leaves. With its aftertaste
Vietnamese mint disorients
your sense of smell; basil scents hang
round you when it’s picked. Who decreed
we wait longer before we eat?
Lime juice squeezed in a dish of salt,
grilled chicken (charcoal still works best)
and leaves, oh leaves. Ignore the heat,
the blood quickens with an appetite,
red chillies fleck the salad bowls.
Leon Trainor
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