Does it come with age?

She thinks this time last year I was in Changi, waiting for my connection flight to London.

She remembers how humidity makes her feel. Almost like it is always holidays, but something even better than that.

There have been choices to make. Choices of no degrees. Choices of either-or.

She pokes into the corners of her mind, the layers of her soul, the curves of her heart. She pokes. Then she prods.

But there are still no lurking regrets.

coffee and cream

Even after two rounds of scones, there is enough King Island cream still in the bowl, that it is worth putting it on the top shelf of the fridge as soon as it is obvious that no one is eating any more. The popcorn, the figs and even a small piece of cheese are still out after the last person has said goodbye. The figs stay out all night.

During the week, she uses the old, larger teaspoon. She scoops the cream from the bowl, heaped teaspoons they would be called, always two and sometimes three. She does not stir, and before all of the cream can melt, she lifts the cup carefully to her lips. She sips.

The rest of the cream melts.

She has three cups of coffee instead of two and each is as good as the last.

The cream slides past her lips and through her body and folds itself onto the curve of her hips.

Unlike apples, which are fibrous, and travel through the small intestine, resting only briefly in the bowel.

Novels in my life: part one

Remains of the day








Dedicated to the year ten English teacher who set an assignment ‘design a book cover’, and gave a B to the girl who designed the back cover because of course I meant the front cover, thus punishing the girl for her (complete) inability to draw, although the subject in question was English, and wasn’t having compulsory art lessons suffering enough for a person like her? And also that B completely ignored the fact that in choosing to design the back cover, the girl demonstrated excellent creativity and insightful analysis of the book in question as well as a good understanding of all that there is in a book as object (isbn etc etc etc) and even her mother agreed that she was not being a smart arse and praised her creativity. And yes, that was the same teacher who taught Shakespeare by assigning a part from Romeo and Juliet to different students in the class and making them read it aloud day after day after week and stretching into a month, and NEVER NOT ONCE EVER giving the girl in question a part to read. Bitter? Yeah. And twisted too.