My father said to remember your enemies as well as your friends, and don't trust either of them.
~ Steven Herrick
I'm not sure if my dream is a dream, or a nightmare.
He walks through the house of his past, hoping he'll find the right door, hoping he'll find the key.
Our great adventure ran out of petrol and stopped on this farm.
I’m alone with the ghost of the swamp, somewhere near the weeping willows.
and I'm thinking as our bodies meet that I'll remember this forever, and i just hope it's for all the right reasons.
So, we skipped Annabel, and discussed condoms. I said I liked the orange ones, and we ended our talk in laughter.
And I feel like a real Dad when I read to her at night. She won't sleep without one story, at least.
Pretty girls kissed me on victory day, their lips soft red petals brushing my face.
Nobody in school is stronger than me. But when Sally Holmes kissed me, I never felt so weak in all my life.
I tell him about ... Jack and Annabel, smart and ready and I'm wondering where all that smart comes from and I figure some from parents, some from school, and some from a place inside you.
It was a good apple too. A good apple, picked by a madman on a full moon night.
I'm glad she left me the kids. I'd be lost without them. Lost and bitter. With them here, I'm only bitter.
Her body begs to be taken away and put into a warm bed with the sheets pulled high, even though nothing can help now.
Men walk through tragedy, quietly, calm and precise on the outside, tearing themselves to shreds inside.
I've tried praying. It gives me comfort. But not as much as a cup of tea and a ginger nut biscuit.
I'm dreaming of a month of Sundays.
Jack reads too many books. He thinks we're going to drive all year and have great adventures.
Bloody rain” says Mr ChiversBouncing a basketballOn the one dry patch of courtbloody rain” he nods to our Sports classAnd gives us the afternoon off.Bloody rain all rightAs Annabel and I run to Megalong Creek hutFaster than we ever have in Chivers’s classAnd the exercise we have in mindWe’ve been training for all yearBut I doubt if old ChiversWill give us a medal if he ever finds out.We high jump into the hutAnd strip downClimb under the blanketsAnd cheer the bloody rain As it does a lap or twoAround the mountainWhile Annabel and meEmbrace like winners shouldLike good sports doAs Mr. Chivers sips his third coffeeAnd twitches his bad kneeFrom his playing daysWhile miles awayAnnabel and IScore a convincing victoryAnd for once in our school lifeThe words “Physical Education”Make sense…
I walked out of his room sure I'd said the right thing maybe not as a father but as a Dad. I'd said the right thing, for once in my life.
He looks a hell of a lot like me, only a fair bit older.
As I stood on the lonely backroad, I'm sure I heard birds, kookaburras, laughing ...
People say the beach is the great equaliserWho are they kidding?Sit at Bondi and watch the boys flexAnd the girls walk bolt uprightIt looks like a nightmare episode of Baywatch.The true equaliser is the mountain coldAnd stacks of cold flung togetherMaybe then we’d listen to what each other is sayingInstead of checking out the best bods.And as I wrap another layerAround my Size 10I think of Jack’s favourite saying:“today’s tan is tomorrow’s cancer”I walk outsideAnd whistle at the wind.
She didn't have an answer for that. People like her only ever have questions.
I'm drinking away the exam results that don't take me anywhere.
She taught me what's important, and what isn't. And I've never forgotten. And that's what mothers do, I say.
I know that today, with a full tank, and with Annabel, that it's time to go.
