To hold the line
By Polly Lisa Bennett. The gymnastics beam as metaphor The beam was not my choice. I did not choose to be good at it. It chose me. The bars were my choice. The flow, the rhythm, the swing. So … Continued
Two blocks and a lifetime away: reflections on the passing of Samba-cat
24 January Just over a year ago I moved into Geelong West. At the time I wasn’t sure what was next. I just knew I didn’t want to go back to my Footscray flat or Melbourne. As my friends … Continued
Ekphrastic Challenge 13
Before Dawn, by Jan Price WHAT IF? JULIE RYSDALE We could have hauled our load up the stairs as high as we could go in that pretty pale moonlight. We would have dressed warmly for the chill ahead. And … Continued
Goodbye, Farewell, and Thanks for Having Me
By Martin Smith. Last night, my pop, Jack Declan, dropped by for a visit. ‘Hello, my boy,’ he said. ‘I’ve been waiting for your REM cycle to kick in.’ ‘Hi, Pop,’ I said. ‘How’s Heaven?’ He sat grey-haired and … Continued
Blind Date
By Martin Smith. ‘Hello? Is … is anyone there?’ ‘Yes. I’m over here. Hello. I’m John.’ ‘Hello, John. I’m B … Blake. Sorry, I’m a bit nervous. This is the first time I’ve done this.’ ‘I, too, was a … Continued
This Laugh’s on Me
By Martin Smith. Any retelling of the legend of Marty McMurth always began with his birth day, when he received a perfect score on his APGAR scale. On that day, his mother, Mrs Martha McMurth, laboured for twenty-three hours. Her … Continued
Lard Lars Gets His Girl: A Modern Fairy Tale
By Martin Smith. Sometime after I stopped believing in the Tooth Fairy—but before you’re meant to start fighting life’s dragons—I had one of them close encounters of the strangest kind. I lived with Mum in a caravan park at the … Continued
The Brief Being of Bea Beeson
By Martin Smith. Bea Beeson knocked but once upon the office door And awaited the call from the commander of her corps. ‘Enter,’ a stern voice barked from within, And Bea squared her shoulders and raised her chin. With a … Continued
The Cannibal’s Guide to Health and Wellbeing™
By Martin Smith. Feeling tired and grumpy? Worried about those black rings under your eyes? Depressed about having to suppress those cannibalistic cravings? Then you need The Cannibal’s Guide to Health and Wellbeing™. That brat next door kicking their soccer … Continued
Larry the Lamb
By Martin Smith. There once was a little lamb called Larry, who lived a lambhood full of fun and frivolity. When he came of age and became Smith the Sheep, his parents took him aside and warned him it was … Continued