Again - to put it into context - I've included multiple sentences. They come from a beautiful article by William McInnes in today's Sunday Magazine - a tribute to his late wife Sarah Watts. If you've ever owned dogs, or are a dog person, I think you'll relate.
Ray and Delilah are our two dogs. Kelpies. Silly as wheels and lovely
beyond all description.
Sunday 30 September 2012
Thursday 27 September 2012
A foray into verse
I'm not a poet, though I sometimes wish I was. Anyway, despite this limitation, something I saw and heard - and photographed - at Taronga Zoo yesterday sent me into free verse.
I apologise in advance....
I apologise in advance....
Chimpanzee
I
listen to them;
children
whooping and laughing and making jokes about the funny monkey.
Lying
on his back,
sleeping
in the sun
making
funny grandfather faces.
They
laugh like they might burst.
Literally.
It
strikes me as disrespectful.
I
watch him;
hard-wired
super computer in a hair-triggered killing, fighting, fuck machine.
He
swaggers away,
huge
testicles swaying
like
ripe black avocadoes.
He
could tear a child in half.
Literally.
There
should be more respect.
Monday 17 September 2012
Great Sentence of the Week #7
Your
worst enemy, he reflected, was your own nervous system. At any moment the
tension inside you was liable to translate itself into some visible symptom. Nineteen eighty-four
(Orwell).
Wednesday 12 September 2012
What Price a Moment?
For Mark Tredinnick...
I
find myself in a moment; sitting and staring up through a v-shaped vista –
between the grey, lichen marked trunks of Bangalow Palms – and I notice how the
sun plays a different tune on each species of plant: delicate silver and copper
piping on the Casuarina needles, or thick citric screaming on the Coachwood
leaves. A Noisy Miner twists and flutters on glowing white feathers, then
perches sideways on the crumbling bark of a Sydney Peppermint to swallow his catch.
There’s an Angophora in the far distance; just a piece of a tree; a warty
salmon branch twisting in an S-shape, before moiling towards the sky. A
Currawong calls. The Sweet Pittosporum is thick with cream blossoms. Tree Fern
fronds wave in a gentle northerly breeze.
I’ve
been fortunate this week. In less than three days I’ve generated more income in
my own business than I would have in two weeks as an employee. If my
calculations are right, there’s a lot more to come. It feels like a blessing. Except
now the Internet is down. Again. And for a moment, I can’t earn any of that
promised income. A frustrating moment. I leave my little office and go outside
for some air. Let my computer re-boot – and myself. Breathe. And I sit out in
the shade and I listen to the colours of the world. It’s only for a moment, but
it feels a lot more valuable.
Friday 7 September 2012
The eight pee-em blues
It's been a long day, but a satisfying one. Started out wondering what the day might bring, and just finished a few minutes ago - at 8pm. A thirteen hour ride - from a single office chair.
It's been a day thick with those winds I hate - the westerlies - roaring and setting the world on edge. Setting me on edge. It's been a day where the limitations of our communication networks seemed determined to drive me spare. Internet lock-outs and those sub-continental sales calls. It's been a day of pouring through Budget Papers and Ministerial Media Releases - sorting out the content from the spin. It's been a day of opportunity - embarking on a dual-writing project with one of this country's most unique - and as yet undiscovered - writers. It's been a big kind of day. I hope yours was equally satisfying - if slightly less taxing.
Now, your time is your own. Enjoy a beer or a glass of wine. Play with your kids. Make love to someone special. I plan to do none of the above. Too tired. Too lazy. And the wind is still blowing too hard out there. Or maybe it's just the eight pee-em blues.
It's been a day thick with those winds I hate - the westerlies - roaring and setting the world on edge. Setting me on edge. It's been a day where the limitations of our communication networks seemed determined to drive me spare. Internet lock-outs and those sub-continental sales calls. It's been a day of pouring through Budget Papers and Ministerial Media Releases - sorting out the content from the spin. It's been a day of opportunity - embarking on a dual-writing project with one of this country's most unique - and as yet undiscovered - writers. It's been a big kind of day. I hope yours was equally satisfying - if slightly less taxing.
Now, your time is your own. Enjoy a beer or a glass of wine. Play with your kids. Make love to someone special. I plan to do none of the above. Too tired. Too lazy. And the wind is still blowing too hard out there. Or maybe it's just the eight pee-em blues.
Saturday 1 September 2012
A great book for your collection
Coming soon.... http://www.melbournebooks.com.au/awaw2012-order.html
I happen to know one of the authors in this year's edition.
I happen to know one of the authors in this year's edition.
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