Rod Moran: Chet Baker in Japan
Chet Baker in Japan
Ravaged Chet Baker,
Junkie prince of jazz,
Searching for a vein
Under Tokyo’s neon,
The blue narco-moon
A tattooed yakuza,
A gleaming katana,
Samurai shadows
In clubland alleys,
(Death could intervene,
Like a deal gone wrong),
Chet blowing a pure
And improvised Zen,
Spare riffs of beauty,
The velvet of his voice
Like mist on the harbour,
The timbre of moon-drench
On Mt Fuji’s screes—
Then, My Funny Valentine’s
Harmonics dissolving,
All the songs collapsing
Into a long dark night.
Rod Moran
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