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1957, 1959, 1964
Three old diaries sit on my desk, three pale red, red and light brown books small enough to fit in the palm of my hand, so small little could be recorded, like three bubbles of the gas that, stuck in ice cores, tells us of the air long ago, but nothing else. It was a
Brief shining hours
Looking back, corridors of my mind are lined with all of the people I have known at length or briefly, and I can see again, like an old movie, with pleasure or pain, in whole films or single frames, all of their faces as they once were.
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After the tavern
The end of life is like the end of a good night out. A group of friends leave the light and warmth of the out of the door and head for home along the dark road. As we travel, one friend after another turns off, waving and calling goodbye. Until, at last, it is just
At the third stroke…
In early life no need to wear a watch because your day is set out for you. In adult life you check your watch a hundred times a day, every minute could be important. In old age you lose your watch. Minutes no longer of interest. Just getting through nights.
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Glass half empty
An autobiography listing all the things you haven’t done in your life might be just as revealing as one about the things you have done.
Gauntlet
I challenged received wisdom, but those who had received that wisdom did not accept my challenge, said that the wisdom was unchallengeable, and therefore the challenge was wrong. Never mind, soon I will be gone, and then you can say “what challenge?”
Treading lightly
Summer is here, in the middle of Spring, with the first warning of bushfires, and the first moment of almost treading on a snake (a cute baby Black, but hey a snake’s a snake). In winter I stride across the land (though always avoiding ants, and beetles, and spiders). I walk differently in Summer. Slower,
The boys in the backroom
Whenever war is declared, whichever countries are involved, you will find, making the announcement, a clown, backed by his followers – all hard-faced men who intend to do well out of it.
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Uneasy lies the head
Being the “Oldest Inhabitant” of a town is a job for life; but not for long. “Village Idiot” also used to be a job for life and a long one; but now a new one comes along every day.
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