Even though there are sinister forces at play in the world right now, I’m not even going to get into that. Instead I’m going to get down to some hardcore navel gazing and share some personal lint-covered insights with you.
All in Death
Life, Death & Stories: The Wisdom of our Elders
There is vast wisdom that can't be found in books and universities. It comes instead from doing the time. And the only ones who have it are our elders, who've walked the path ahead. And when we can slow down enough to listen, and drop our obsession with youth, they'll tell us stories. Here's one from my neighbour Ken...
Today You Would Have Been 90
As hard as it is for me to admit it, you made a great choice not sticking around for your 90th. There would have been lap blankets for sure, and people writing you off as an old person which you never were.
At Least the Wattle Keeps on Blooming
Mum sits the three of us down at the kitchen table and asks us if we’ve noticed that she and Dad have been arguing a lot. I’m eight, the oldest and the most outspoken. I ask as a joke if they’re going to get divorced. It seems like such a whacky possibility. Something that happens on TV, not in our house.
Today I’m Thinking About Death
A poem about life and death and time and things...
The Butterfly Effect
This story was difficult. It came to me on the back of butterfly wings, through tears, like a jigsaw puzzle. A few pieces at a time. I didn't even realise it was a story until it began to assemble itself.