Olivia Byard: First Bird
First Bird
Short beaked,
needing more than insects,
poor at digging in the ground,
it wakes in deepest night
to check ultraviolet light—
because worms
emerge in dark to mate, hating
light and sun, and writhing
earthworms make its early meal.
So a single hunting call
shatters silence with its spell
while dark still drapes
the sleeping world,
and carries
us from harm on a perfect pitch
of sound, across the risky wolf hours
into dawn.
Olivia Byard
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