My aunt - ("Marc!" [tap, tap tap]) - tapped at the bedroom window of my Mum's house (Mum's and Dad's) "We think it's time." ...day four, perhaps... And half abed and half asleep, half a night more than a half-week without, woke me up to take me back to the hospital. Not time. Dad said, … Continue reading Migrations
Maggie is alive and well…
...and why wouldn’t she be. But I miss her. Oh, she’s right here on the end of the bed... okay, dammit, she’s just broken the narrative and hopped onto her own, but she’s right here in the bedroom. And I miss her. I miss her when I’m painting and she’s in the next room. I … Continue reading Maggie is alive and well…
26 years
12th February 2017
I am…
It has been two weeks since I received my diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), one if you count the subsequent confirmation of my behaviour by the doctor with my partner. In all matters I am currently heavily aware of this elephant in the room, and I feel my legacy of inadequacies chasing at its feet...
Illuminated
I am in Sydney. I place some change, fifty- twenty- ten-cent pieces, in the requisite Tower of Hanoi form, in the drawer of the hotel bedside table. I am a child sitting on the floor in my parents' bedroom by myself and by Dad's bedside drawers. I open his top drawer... his wallet is front … Continue reading Illuminated
Teddy
It is in a box, sitting on the outdoor table, bloodied, body still writhing. I throw it over the houseyard fence for the birds to eat. I am working in the shed’s car port, building a picnic table. Peter is down at the main water tank, burying the overflow pipe. One of our dogs, Teddy, … Continue reading Teddy
An epilogue
An epilogue to the end of Jennifer: her mother, Hermione, presents little Jen-jen.
“Does suffering create wisdom?”
[some quotes here are lightly paraphrased to improve clarity from casual internet conversation] On ask.fm (a social media site built around asking others questions, usually anonymously) a young guy asked me (and others) the following question, in his usual seeming manner of encouraging conversation: Does suffering "create" wisdom, in your opinion? (Shahaf) I responded in … Continue reading “Does suffering create wisdom?”
Jennifer
I live at 1300m above sea level on about 285 acres of mostly bush, about two kilometres off a rural road to near-nowhere in the Snowy Mountains. On three sides of our property we are similarly forested. We have all the flora and fauna advantages of a predominantly natural Australia landscape, but also quite a … Continue reading Jennifer