Carolyn Evans Campbell: Women at the River
Women at the River
Women eye each other
on opposite sides of the river.
One catches fish in a hide basket;
the other washes her baby’s bottom.
One gathers manioc tubers to pound into paste.
The other gathers berries on the river banks
They both bury their placentas
or a stillborn at the water’s edge,
wash away their blood in the cool water,
sing for their living, keen for their dead.
They do not divide the flowing water,
nor the scent of flowers, air, sky, sun.
When the dark men scream and cross the river,
they both know where to hide.
Carolyn Evans Campbell
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.
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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
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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
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2 mins