This beautiful waiter was so caring and funny, he stood for five minutes as a very ...
Stories by Cathoel Jorss
Sort by:
Sort by:
without spilling a thing
worldburn
Today in a cafe two small incidents seemed to me to illustrate the forms of self-involvement ...
shriveled bulb of god
My stomach feels like a shrivelled bulb after two martinis, no dinner. Whoever invented alcohol is ...
mexicocoa
Yesterday I was at my friend's place after a thunderstorm and she had a little curving ...
long-legged rock god
At rehearsal with a Ghanaian band for whom it is imperative to have two different drummers ...
no to the no
Imagine that. Imagine claiming a whole vast and fast continent was empty, naming it Terra Nullius. ...
disembowelled
For weeks after the diagnosis I was still having episodes of shock as deep as flashbacks, ...
a man of mouse
In a cafe where I write, the staff are terrifically grumpy. One sometimes meets me with ...
neither warmth nor depth
I woke up strapped to the bed by six different apparatus. The last thing I remember ...
moon made of ice cream
I showed up at the supermarket checkout at closing time with a tub of ice cream. ...
the men who hate women
Hi Callum! Good morning I'd like to ask your advice as I don't know now what ...
sopa, so good
'Hello, Department of Pumpkin Soup? I've just reinvented the form and I thought you ought to ...
you’re not Kyle
My phone rang just now with a number I don't recognise. A grandmotherly voice said, "Kyle! ...
new yearn
I want to wish everyone a beautiful festivities, in whatever shape you find them, the end ...
a man in the house
I went to a Sunday afternoon gathering of people I didn't know, who regularly host discussions ...
skulldiggery
Paying for my breakfast at the counter I noticed another customer, reading the paper intently, with ...
revellers have taken over the world
In a little Hungarian cafe I found a tourist map of Budapest. It very much resembles ...
be the big smoke
On the underground train above ground the whole carriage overheard two rather stoned young dudes speaking ...
how tis.
The courage… to get through life without this sense of home, without this refuge, whilst surviving ...
my sweet friend
All the way home I am paying attention to the trees. These are my champions, companions, ...
rule of thump
Today I was walking down the street wearing shorts and within a block two men had ...
Ghanaian men
I met six (6) beautiful British-Ghanaian men, who were sitting at the next table to mine. ...
child on the floor
The littlest member of drawing group was handed over in a hurry and he settled down, ...
far distant Ghana beach
The long trotro ride from Accra Mall to the middle of nowhere. The long wait under ...
a very long summer out of doors
Looping conversation with a lady sitting on a park bench. She had met her husband at ...
beautiful is who you are
I came to visit a Ghanaian friend who runs a very tiny, very humble business. When ...
my tiny fellow
I walked past a group of boys and one of them said, opportunistically but with a ...
Bella’s belly
In Accra I have four or five street friendships with little doggoes and pussycats who live ...
birthday season
Have you noticed how racists feel the description of their racism is worse than the actual ...
tabletop head
I just learned that Ghanaians call ketchup catch-up. I learned this from a poster advertising tomato ...
#NotAllLives
Thinking this afternoon about the insulting phrase All Lives Matter, and its to me clear and ...
a money carrier
It is summer and the lockdown is easing; I went to pick up my disreputable, battered ...
for crying out quiet
Eleven weeks ago today my husband walked out. I went to the park and when I ...
how white people got this way
Hey Europe! It's like this. We stole the whole world from everyone. Retired behind desks to ...
late afternoon squared
In the late afternoon I walked down to the square. I've been indoors now every day ...
stay with me
Once an Islander man stepped out onto the pavement as I was passing. We both stopped ...
rocket seeds
Well, this evening I've reached the end of my first month in quarantine, 28 days, 4 ...
bible full of prostitutes
Prostitution: my wife doesn't understand me (by providing herself as a slave to my sexual needs) ...
best friend’s unacknowledged son
My mother's best friend is sick with coronavirus. She also suffers from dementia, so she likely ...
cherry tree, wait for me
Today I would give anything to run outside into this suddenly warm sunshine. I woke to ...
a meeting at the bins
Self-quarantine day 10. Me and two other neighbours ran into each other in our pyjamas down ...
staying at home in the Spring
It's wonderful to be cheerful and I will be cheerful. We are alive and are blessed ...
German Corona: fascism vs panic
In Berlin this early in the quarantine it's ok, the sun is out and I would ...
the surprise
Things my African boyfriend wants to know: Why do white people need to take coffee or ...
ablaze and to blame
Wild animals are now approaching humans, desperate for water. Magpies are mimicking sirens. It's so catastrophic ...
defender of the vulnerable
I had a beautiful friendship once, with a woman who is also a writer. We read ...
supermerch
In the supermarket I queued for the African check out dude who's always calm in the ...
to the friend who couldn’t quit
I still spend an hour every morning coughing earnestly and can't laugh without coughing. I thought ...
Make Africa Great Again
We went out to the white people's restaurant, as he calls it, which is a street ...
hanging weekend
Ahhh, weekend in a hammock, swinging softly from side to side and hearing the waves crashing, ...
waking up in Africa
It is my birthday tomorrow and I've woken up in Africa! Beautiful Ghana of the glorious ...
damn straight
I went on a ten-day meditation retreat & on the last day, made an appointment to ...
a trans man
Yesterday when he asked I told a trans-identified friend over coffee, No: you're not a woman. ...
story about an artist
In my twenties I worked at the front desk of the Queensland Art Gallery for a ...
happy birthday from afar
Tomorrow is my Mum's birthday, she's eighty. Tomorrow is already today in Brisbane because Australia is ...
mothy
Moth drowning in the shower. Poor fluttering little guy. Even if his whole life flashed before ...
bicycle fascist
I was overtaken on the bike path today by a puzzlingly hostile man. He seemed to ...
wasp joy
This summer as the world goes to literal and immediate hell using bushfire and corruption, misogyny ...
I spoke first
In a crowded lunchtime cafe we were pressed elbow to elbow. The couple beside me talked ...
transmisogyny
Transactivism has usurped the struggle of genuinely marginalised vulnerable people and become swollen with the entitlement ...
the Nazi airfield in summer
I will tell you what Berlin is like in the summer. As I cycle home from ...
summer treat
The woman behind me at the supermarket checkout had a little pile of five caramel bars, ...
a homemade flower festival
A woman in my neighbourhood has put up little signs all round the flower gardens in ...
skeeter mattress
I just sold my air mattress, late on a Saturday night, to a small, muscular, warm ...
a birthday story
It is my birthday and I had kind of a depressing morning because (various reasons). But ...
Springlike
Whole streets in Berlin have grown into green tunnels while I was away in Africa. Trees ...
morning inglorious
Standing on the street in my Dad's old pyjamas taping a sign "GORSS" next to the ...
kink shaming
On the one hand, consensual sex is nobody else's business. On the other, I feel sad ...
that I fight
The battle to take seriously my own life and prospects, and to treat myself well, is ...
men in dreads
Two men unfolded themselves and stood up. One of them grabbed my hand. I was passing ...
moon over Accra
It’s a beautiful night in Ghana and the moon is very full. Immodestly so. What need ...
the pretty wine shop
Beautiful sunset over Berlin today: pink, stippled like wet sand, and spacious. The man in the ...
out of nowhere
My dad trained me to be raped, by minor and persistent infringements which he would not ...
her wild laugh, like birds
My date took me to a bar that was open late. We sat round a splendid ...
me too, yesterday
Monday morning I left my doors wearing a tiny skater skirt. I flung a leg over ...
late night lemons
Late night supermarket in Berlin's wild west. Two pretty girls in their pretty outfits are queuing ...
pedalling home
Pedalling home along a tree-lined street which is set aside for bicycles, I heard a crash. ...
this German sweetness and its love
The best thing about living in Berlin so long and getting better with my German again ...
everything in sequins
Yesterday I was reading the paper over coffee in a huge, bleak market hall in Berlin. ...
three little children
I was walking home up our rainy street when a woman popped her head up and ...
our neighbour grief
Coming past the apartment below me I heard from the stairs the unmistakeable noises of grief. ...
Daddy why is your face rectangular
Just walked past a cafe table where both parents had their phones out & were intent ...
equinocturnal
Today is the Autumn Equinox. As a southern hemispherian I decided to finally find out what ...
late summerhaft
Across town today I had the impulse to come through an overgrown island of trees that ...
we call it Berlin snout
In a second hand shop I tried on the superlong pair of creamy trousers that had ...
heart attacked
I just got a letter from my mother explaining she has been in hospital for five ...
the crimes of President Trump, as listed in the Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence lists crimes against the American people which drove them to reject British ...
graffiti confetti butt
I was cycling along the river where the water meets the trees, there is a little ...
Ghanaity
Had to change trains twice to get home and I was reading Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell, ...
May Day, May Day
Two people made fuck, out on the concreted area in front of the apartments. I recognised ...
The Great Fire
Only Shirley Hazzard could end a novel by writing explicitly of a virgin woman's clitoris - ...
music unfolds in the Funkhaus, live and barely planned
Today we will be making a new song, the first towards Cathoel & the New Government's ...
don’t stand so far from me
Och, my heart's pounding! I just queued in the supermarket next to a man taller than ...
hand to hand
I went to a new physiotherapist today for my injured hand, and experienced all the Germanness. ...
this one time?
I came home after a long day, festooned with groceries. The bench on the subway platform ...
a virgin busker
On the subway a woman suddenly opened her mouth and began to sing. Her voice was ...
a Berlin evening, so cold, so sweet
After an exceptionally difficult night and a day of doing difficult work, I said: I need ...
the meagrely satisfying throne
He didn’t want to be President. Not if President means making sticky decisions, and being blamed ...
the young man with a long way to go
The young man in the place where we are staying is Moroccan and comes from the ...
welcome, Auntie
I've joined a Facebook group which posts pictures of people's dogs. The rules are long and ...
the boast of Christmas past
Last year and the year before that and four years ago too we went down on ...
late night and overhead
Late night walk through the freezing fog. "Like Blade Runner." We turn down all the opportunities ...
apple a day
Saturday night, home with the one I love. We cycled over to the Korean grocers' in ...
the organic drunk
In the supermarket carrying my two jars of honey, because it's been nonstop chai masala weather, ...
buy for me
Young, scruffy, insouciant Indian boy is walking by the greasy canal with his parents. Evidently he's ...
nasally responsible
On the subway I sat down next to a guy who was remarkably good looking. Tall ...
if this is democracy, I’m a jam donut
The narrative of the powerful older woman in our society is a dangerous and poisoned one. ...
magic, or some kind of god
My nephew and I had a conversation about death. He is seven. His teachers have said, ...
come to the cabarache, old chum
Made a little performance the other night at a beautiful cabaret improv evening hosted by the ...
presidential debate
Big guy who shouldered in front of me to the vegetable stall on the markets kept ...
autumbled
Autumn in Berlin and the grimy guy begging outside our supermarket is absorbed in a book. ...
Trump, the Musical
Some lines from a musical we are idly writing, online, a bunch of strangers, in response ...
love is the what
Reaching my Kiez in the late afternoon* I nearly ran into a boy-girl couple kissing strenuously ...
all done by hand
Off to the hand surgeon to find out whether in his opinion he needs to operate ...
cigarette break
A lot of noise round the house today as the Hausmeister - Deutschland brims with masters ...
jet laggard
I wonder if anyone else has trouble adjusting after travel, it would be reassuring to me ...
possessive hand
The little cat puts her hand possessively on my arm. After a moment's thought her other ...
while he sleeps
Today I am sitting beside my father while he sleeps. It is the last time, probably ...
watching the sun set
Mum's just taken Dad on an outing & waving goodbye to them I began to cry. ...
disjointed
Yesterday I dislocated my finger. I tripped on a folded horse blanket and fell against the ...
four years ago today
Walked into a Turkish convenience store late on Friday night, they sold water pipes as well ...
dead man sleepwalking
In this house of illness and pain I get lonely. Everyone is in bed by eight ...
of our elders
I'm at my parents' place spending some time with my dying father. He is frail as ...
the family stones
Caring for Dad is painful. I love him, naturally, and now he's very frail and unwell; ...
to meet my father
I'm going into the difficult embrace of family life to say goodbye to my father. Our ...
or anything but
Two Americans in a coffee shop staffed by Australians. This is Berlin where not everybody bothers ...
be the change you want to see in the word
My German sweetheart and I argue about my right to make up new words in his ...
nation of dog lovers
You know you're in Germany when you can saunter into a department store carrying your dog ...
gun culture
Let’s think about the whole gun control question from another angle for just a moment. Imagine ...
illicit flower factory
Today my boyfriend discovered the illicit dried flower factory I have been running in his apartment. ...
born by scissory section
A German's interpretation of my Australian pronunciation of flasher just yielded the phantom of the flesher: ...
camera ambulance
Is it Germans who are so trusting, or just Berliners? A woman cycled up with her ...
the wrong underpants
Walking home we were following a guy who could not stop fiddling with his own underpants. ...
at boyfriend school
What bothers me most about getting older is losing that glorious, elastic authority which I used ...
the oliver twist
I have a friend who teaches piano. Today she said to me, "I have two students ...
happens so fast
Mum's in hospital. Dad's in hospital. Both in the same hospital and admitted on the same ...
the two languages of dream
I went to a strange and interesting event which was sentimental and yet truthful and moving. ...
the blooming grime
Though I live in one of the grimiest areas of Berlin, and that's pretty grimy, right ...
Department of Honour
I just acquired the most beautiful new German word. We are discussing privilege and a new ...
for you, now that you no longer need it
My friend has died. She was very courageous and had cancer. She was a photographer, a ...
new under the sun
Walking through the park in the unexpected sunshine yesterday I realised suddenly: strolling through summer in ...
spring peaces
The hottest bath imaginable. Coconut oiled my hair. Wrapped head to hip in towels. New book ...
Dad and Ian
Dad's number is 0412 195 957. Mum's number, obtained in a different year and from a ...
calvados, ahoy
Miserable with flu I staggered down to the markets in search of star anise, lemons, and ...
angel Bowie
Two hipsters compete in a Berlin bookshop, the day of David Bowie's death Hipster One: I ...
pure new cold all over
It's snowing! It's snowing! It's snowing! I came into a cafe going, It's snowing, and she ...
the indivisible splendour
Thinking of love today and how it has such deep transformative power in our lives. I ...
the man she likes
I saw a girl on the Underground travelling with the man she's in love with and ...
if I ruled the world
If I ruled the world for one day: to do list 1. make leafblowers illegal. These ...
the littlest love
I lost a baby last year, after a long time trying to conceive. It died inside ...
knowing one another in the dark
Knowing one another in the dark: this is life in the wintertime, in Germany. Three days ...
god bless the adult
I met a man with shit-stained pants on the subway and we sang together. He had ...
New York is hard to write about
New York is hard to write about. There's so much of it and it keeps changing. ...
New York, I fucken love you
In New York we stayed off-island, on the sprawling mainland of the USA. I found it ...
the ride home was the best party
Imagine a lake. It is vast and extends, if you swim out to the middle and ...
exit stage always right
Is Tony Abbott 'a good man' as Finance Minister Mathias Corban has it? Yes, if you ...
house of gingerbread
So it's Friday night, I am in my pajamas and baking sticky gingerbread for dinner. About ...
why I blame myself for being raped (hint: not because it’s my fault)
All my life I have been me. I didn't realise it at first. Presumably, as we ...
stitch grandeur
In Berlin people do all kinds of things out loud in public. You can buy drugs, ...
the dark lit me home
I rode home after writing in a large dim room in silence with four other people. ...
where it hurts
What a strange feeling to watch Mitch Winehouse, father of the Amy who died young, telling ...
of wheels & wings
Today a day of wheels and wings. On the high street I set myself an errand, ...
that, and all the gods of grief
For four weeks now, this terrible grief. It takes up residence in my throat, is heavy, ...
don’t shoot
Jeez, America, stop shooting each other. At least in Australia we only drown refugee babies, jail ...
rainy childs
Berlin children are adorable when it rains. I came upon a flock of them, holding hands ...
what ate New York
The film poster that has Godzilla tearing up great chunks of the city and eating alive ...
a beaker of fruit in the sun
Some of the friends I made in New York four years ago are so precious to ...
everywanna’s an artist
Giggling to myself at what seems a very typical Berlin expatriate conversation I just passed. American ...
the true markets
On Sunday in the midst of strife I had a most wonderful day. Met an acquaintance ...
feierabend
I love how in Germany restaurants closed on Mondays will say, Montag ist Ruhetag. Monday is ...
falling, and small, and very far away
I had an email from my partner’s new lover. It was my fault, I wrote to ...
colourful, gleaming, a fresh crate of stairwell
I walked home at last through the markets and by the time I got to the ...
backbone
Over breakfast my partner announced he is falling in love with another woman. I said, "What?" ...
the father & son skateboards
Bearded guy walking past rather fast along the cobbles holding his cell phone up to type ...
good wipe ratio
Feeling a bit unsettled and displaced today in unfamiliar Berlin humidity and the eventual but sudden ...
the night so vast
Walking at night through the little woods that runs along the shore. I can hear a ...
forever leaving home
So on December 4th I stripped myself out of the hammock tied under a tree that ...
through Glass, darkly
Philip Glass: a man who halfway through his own memoir, written by himself about his own ...
this land is our land
Was quite excited to work out last night by decoding the allergies notice in a Korean ...
sugar no sugar
Pleased as Punch, in that resinous phrase, that in my first days in Spain I worked ...
jazz bar, balconies, bikers, busker, moth, Madrid
The moth which landed in the glossy black curls of a woman sitting on the Metro ...
casa de correos
A beautiful girl went into meltdown at the post office counter at ten o'clock at night ...
hair now gone to morels
Today I had my hair cut and lost enough length to stuff a small teddy bear. ...
the lovely man
You know how sometimes two souls collide in a fleeting way, like two bells chiming in ...
my favourite moments of the May Day march
The people dancing on bus stop rooves. The leggy punk marching in ugg boots. The giant ...
alle auf die Strasse
I am in Kreuzberg, middle of Berlin, middle of Germany, middle of Europe. Today is 1st ...
don’t you feel like reading books any more?
I was in a bookshop yesterday with my friend just arrived from Copenhagen. It is around ...
I’m in trains
I came clattering down the stairs to find the train already humming, its destination sign was ...
wake in flight
In my dream I was in this amazing cafe taking five floors of an abandoned building ...
the great book explosion of 2015
Imagine we were all living in a world where almost everyone was carrying a book in ...
Olé au lait
When I travel I am never alone because always there is the companionship of my shyness. ...
desperate for literature
At ten o'clock at night I went out walking round the curve of the road under ...
love in public
I saw two girls, two women, long-haired and standing round bags, close together on the subway ...
a fortunate wander
Today a very fortunate wander took me into a place I adored: several places and all ...
king of little Thailand
Unable to stomach any more Spanish food I went out and found a tiny Thai place. ...
hungry in Spain
I saw three Spanish boys doing parkour in the gardens. I have run out of money ...
madre de dios
Following a little family down the long walkways of Terminal One to reach Terminal Two and ...
cold but sweet
Finally experienced the piercing joy of eating ice-cream in the freezing cold, I always used to ...
echt Kinderbilder
I just saw a Berliner sitting with legs planted apart in the sunshine and hugely enjoying ...
lost in the cake station
A literal translation of the conversation that took place between me and the gorgeous dark-eyed Turkish ...
antiquities vs the antiquated: Abbott’s true agenda
Ok listen up. Abbott wants to forcibly shut down outback Indigenous communities in remote areas of ...
the cold, the dark, the spots on my apples
So cold outside that I can keep cheeses and yoghurts fresh by stowing them in between ...
citizen’s arrest
I walked into one of those joyless lunchtime buffets so ill-suited to Chinese cuisine. The name ...
white trash-talking
The term "white trash" is so racist and offensive I cannot believe people ever use it. ...
towed by the wind
Today crossed the old abandoned airport towed by a dog I felt the mist rising all ...
the black hamburger of weddingworld
On the bus coming home from our forest walk we passed a billboard for Hochzeitswelt: Wedding ...
unAustralian Day
The aspects of Australianness I feel most dearly attached to, and which are also the aspects ...
peeling back the years as trees
Oh, I love my little desk in my little borrowed room. At night the night is ...
walnut hound
We are travelling with a medium-sized hound named Felix and tonight I learned something uncanny about ...
now I don’t want you to get too excited
All my life people have been telling me not to get too excited about things. They ...
frauenpower
Tiny revolutions in other people's lives, I just can't stop making them. When we got here ...
what Jesus did
Christmas edition of the local paper, West Germany. Four pages of articles welcoming the first couple ...
dinner party from the sofa
I was at a dinner party and came over all poorly. In fact I thought I ...
the little lost letter-dove
One of the world's sweetest men has been reading me snippets from the local paper. There ...
racism vs sexism: dinosaurs attack
It fascinates me how people invariably preface racist statements with the words, "I'm not a racist ...
a small town in West Germany
We came today to a small town in West Germany to stay with family, my out-laws, ...
Martin Place
How convenient for our struggling Government that a lone imbecile equipped with a gun has showed ...
reggae punk
Night walk in the late afternoon. There is a large punk stationed outside the supermarket, asking ...
an apple tree with one of its seeds
So cold and empty at the heart today. I feel all the little threads connecting me ...
grafitti cake & cold wind
Walking past yet another housing estate whose walls are festooned to arm's length with torn posters, ...
the lonely honest man
A man on the street broke my heart open and I can't stop thinking about him. ...
you are like a fresh cranberry
God, I am so in love right now. Partly because of food and partly because of ...
when nothing really mattress
Being back has been all too much. My body is toiling through an endless misery of ...
alles ganz frisch
No Murdoch press and the sun has come out! How much fresher can Germany get. We ...
state of sunshone
Queensland. The Sunshine State. Skin Cancer Capital of the World. Spending as much time in the ...
the lascivicious wink
So it's late afternoon and the storm has passed, the light has begun to pearl. I've ...
he who comes for us all
Walking under the devastated trees the afternoon after a huge storm, their fresh scattered blossoms and ...
better to have loved and won
The guy I adore has conversations with birds. These appear to be actual reciprocal chats, where ...
Kaffeewitzenkraft
We tried out a new coffee house, on our bicycles. Actually it was an old cafe, ...
storm
I just cycled home through the spattering rain, with thunder rolling heavy overneath, and as I ...
collective noun a couch of potatoes
I have no depth and everything within me is shallow and small. I waste this only ...
climate chains
God, I feel so depressed about the American midterm results today. What seems clear is: the ...
global weirding
Yesterday I accompanied a friend to a medical specialist who has been urging invasive and ill-tested ...
I’ve been beautiful since I was nine years old
Being shoved up against the train windows by a much older man whose friends looked on ...
the people’s republic of goth
If one Australian festival was to take over the world as the British/American Hallowe'en has this ...
smaller than you might think, vaster than you might imagine
I've been using the exact same folded square of toilet paper to blot my fountain pen ...
engagement fest
We went to a party and everyone got drunk. This came treading the heels of some ...
gardening clothes
We went out to a swanky bar without getting out of our gardening clothes. It was ...
bella Africa
Beautiful African woman, standing with her back to the street in a luscious canary-yellow dress. She ...
how embarrassment
Tony Abbott threatening to "shirt-front" Putin? And that meme that has the two of them side ...
the pickling palace
The people across the road are drunk and two of them are planning to have sex ...
exactly right like Goldilocks
I was working in a cafe today for the first time in a while and the ...
his scarlet-helmeted warrior
I had a pen name, once, after I wrote two excruciatingly awful romance novels thinking this ...
coffee name
On the markets I ordered a cup of coffee under canvas, under trees. The fig trees ...
riverfeier
Saturday night festival of explosions, fireworks and low-flying fighter jets scamming the river. I was standing ...
lies over Baghdad
Yesterday I entered into a conversation with someone asking, Why don't the moderate Muslims speak out ...
a doll, soused
In my pajamas at 6pm: pajamas are my favourite clothes. The phone rings. It's a woman ...
the bouncer in his castle
Sat for half an hour watching this bouncer refusing entry to a drunken girl who had ...
up in the smoke
Something annoying I remember from the endless days of smoking and working is how ganja made ...
dusk, dusk, dusk
The strange screeching of tropical birds spurling into midnight's blue sky at 6 o'clock, as the ...
stolen man
An African guy who lived in the apartments near me had the warmest smile always courteous ...
super moon to the rescue
A knock at the door when we finally trudge home, carrying our groceries, exhausted. It's the ...
this song’s about
Someone was asking for songwriting ideas and I came up with these. Ideas are easy, it's ...
in The Circle
I decided to stay home from the Writers Festival and read, all weekend, in the hammock. ...
a bit too helpful
I went to my parents' place to bring them a copy of my new book. Afterwards ...
dancing friend
I can't stop crying. A friend of mine, a musician from Berlin, just wrote to say, ...
wizened neighbour from the woods
I have here this neighbour whose skin is dark and seamy and white hairs sprout from ...
meat time
I love how the cat comes and sits, not next to the fridge, just sort of within range... letting me ...
shop where they sell bottles
I went into the bottleshop and found the most approachable face. A guy from Canada. I ...
suicide: it’s the silence
Every time somebody private or prominent dies by their hand, there is a rush of resentment, ...
alone at last
I have this really long poem which I have rewritten decisively - indecisively - thoroughly over ...
a strange moustache
Lady Barista and I made each other laugh today, or maybe I just made myself laugh, ...
drawing from life
Went to my first life drawing class in eight years. Boy, was that challenging. For one ...
some delightful stranger
Some delightful person left a little note in our letterbox this week, thanking us for something ...
can he floss: not so sweet
I was seeing this guy once who got comfortable enough to start flossing in front of ...
my god, I’m so drunk
My god, I'm so drunk. What happened is: it's all Diamond Dave's fault. What I mean ...
fight for your right to part ways for the night
My boyfriend and I had a huge fight and I went storming into a bar and ...
a singer I’d never heard of
Our nearest cafe has made such a bold and tender innovation. Simple, really. How shall I ...
surprise party
"Meet us at Southbank on Saturday night, birthday party, surprise party." We turn up late, missing ...
hark
What if the things we are most dependent on are insufficient substitutes for something else? Walking ...
personal draining
To overcome a longterm injury I've taken on some personal training, in a stinky gym paved ...
fear of bunyips
It's getting dark. The gentle end of a slow and satisfying farm day. My farm is ...
eBaying at the moon
Hooray, I just perfected a new & absolutely unexpected skill. You know when you have to ...
bicycling on
Finally my bike! There have been various substitute treadlies in between but my own blue bike, ...
the plastic to drown us in
Last week on the market I spoke to the girl queueing before me at the fruit ...
Hazzard lights
This morning I woke late and slowly and heavy and smiling, blindly at everything, the sun ...
vegemite kid
One's German companion begins to assimilate. He is working his way through a jar of Vegemite, ...
bursting the bloodied vessel
Does god want us to live in a cage? Doesn't god want us to be good ...
this cat the sun
I think this cat's favourite person is the sun. She believes everything he tells her and ...
like umbrellas
Today was a torrent of windiness scouring Brisbane, everybody turning inside out like umbrella-bats. Wind Creates ...
book-learning
I just feel so ruddy fortunate to have a decent academic education. It obliges me to ...
brisbanally retentive at last
Brisbane. Took me ten years to settle here, having uprooted from sultry Jakarta and a school ...
all the accidental musics wrung
Sometimes a song I've been listening to intently for ages suddenly rolls past in a different ...
superpow
I think maybe my superpower is interfering in other people's lives. I pick up their rubbish. ...
The Rover
Last night I saw an amazing film. It uses South Australia as a post-Collapse landscape, compellingly. ...
how many Brazilians does it take to shave a planet
Brazil has, how can I put this, the richest store of remaining rainforest in the universe. ...
this most severe moon & I
A house nearby is small, wooden, and humble, a tiny workers' cottage in the classic Queensland ...
Four Horsemen
"To truly understand something is to be liberated from it." This fascinating film held me riveted. ...
The Saturday Paper
Bought The Saturday Paper, the one not owned by a misanthrope sadist. Carried it into my ...
comfort reading in a world gone wrong
My comfort reading is romances and children's literature from the 50s, 60s, and 70s. What I ...
the stolid inability to learn
Somehow I just made enough dahl for twelve people. There's two of us. Similarly every time ...
controlled by guns
I don't know why there's not more discussion about the connection between entitlement and mass shootings. ...
light and shade
Today was a sad and complicated day and I couldn't get myself off the couch. Life ...
Wednesday afternoon in the Valley
Two girls in high heels and tiny skirts chatting outside Eye Candy peep show. A dishevelled ...
on not being a brand
Had to write a blurb about myself - a bio - for Queensland Poetry Festival. Oh, ...
bushel of sanity
When I walk downhill carrying my computer and the old man sitting underneath the tree nods ...
flowers upturned
Tonight I passed a very low hedge, glossy and cropped to ankle height. Into the shining ...
birthday
It's going to be my birthday on Saturday, along with perhaps 19 million other people. Good ...
til the day I die
This morning carrying coffee I walked past the hostel where an old Aboriginal man, gold-chocolate skinned ...
Capetown, South Africa
Getting a phone line connected. Guy: "So you're all good to go!" Me: "Can I ask ...
dancing, just dancing
Dancing in the dark. It's so beautiful. I heard about it back in Melbourne, where it ...
the sweetest noose
Ok, so: imagine you have a lover whose second language is English and who one day ...