Under The Mallee Bough

  Jottings in an oarsman’s journal. Jottings in an Oarsman’s Journal #2. John Esau. I confess to a certain delight in giving myself some luxuries of comfort in this venture down The Marne River. I have equipped myself with many of the little extras that make the experience of “sleeping rough” a kind of soft comfort. The fact that I can carry so much more than a walker with a knapsack venturing into the bush, lets me include such items as extra socks and warm under garments..a change of boots to shoes…cutlery and cooking utensils that would otherwise be considered too weighty for one person walking. I could store the more perishable food items in a cooling box under the prow of the skiff..this cool-box was sold by our company to keep those special dishes cool and preserved for several days with a double lined box with cork between the lining and a tight fitted lid also so insulated..it worked quite well for my purposes.So I was in the here...

  Jottings in an Oarsman’s Journal. (Some of you may know that The Marne River I describe in this idyl could not in most years float even a cork from the hills face all the way to the Murray river..but then, if a moth  can dream of flying through space to visit a star, why not row a skiff the full length of this gentle stream?…”…For men may come and men may go . . .”) Jottings in an oarsman’s journal. My name is Ambrose Quint. I come from a long line of ships chandlers. Now, in my fifty first year, I have passed the oversight of the company, formed by my grandfather in the early days of the province, and sited at Port Adelaide to service the Line ships and public of this state, to my younger brothers who have greater enthusiasm for the trade of chandlering, while I take time to pursue an ambition I have nurtured in my heart for many years of travelling by rowing skiff down many of the delightful rivers and streams of the state.. ...

  Who Killed the System? (Maidens war women killing men, Bohemian tale..Czech..) (A parody) Who Killed The System.. ? Who killed the Patriarchy? I..said the Feminist Vulture, With my twisted culture.. I killed The Patriarchy. Who will sink the boot in? I..said the Queer, With a screeching leer.. I’ll sink the boot in. Who will carve up the body? I..said the middle-class rabble, With my meaningless babble.. I’ll carve the body… Who’ll suck the blood? I..said the one most loved, With my disingenuous hugs, I’ll suck the blood.. Who’ll sew the shroud? I..said social media most loud, With my hem-hugging crowd, I’ll sew the shroud. Who’ll dig the grave? I said the industrial baron, Grovelling with subsidised millions I’ll (pay someone to) dig the grave. Who’ll be the Parson? I..said the dirty larrikan, While stealing the church donations, I’ll b...

  The Modern Method of Living. The Modern Method of Living. Y’know, I think I have almost got the knack of this modern lifes. . . , There you go, I was going to say “lifestyle”, but that would denote that we had a choice of what kind of life we chose to live…but no..rather, I see these times as an absurdity thrust upon us without choice or escape..so I would be better to choose the word in the title vis; “Method”…yes, I have almost got the gist of this modern method of getting by in an absurd world.. and it all came about through again my motor car. I’ll tell you… This morning I went to take the car out of the garage and I see it has a flat tyre…front drivers side..flat as a tack..bugger!…So I go to the boot to get the jack and the spare tyre out to do the job…a job, by the way any man my age has done dozens of times..you jack the car up, undo the wheel nuts and swap the spare from the boot to the car, tighten the wheel nuts back on ...