Steven Herrick

“He did what he could, and that was more than enough.”

“Cowards don't always hide. Sometimes, they're so gutless they need to stand out.”

“He looks a hell of a lot like me, only a fair bit older.”

“After the war I was going to make up for lost time. But the time I spent away, it's still lost. No matter what I do, it stays lost.”

“Men walk through tragedy, quietly, calm and precise on the outside, tearing themselves to shreds inside.”

“He hands the page to his wife and looks across the room to Colleen's picture, listening to her absence, breathing deeply the air she can't share.”

“Her body begs to be taken away and put into a warm bed with the sheets pulled high, even though nothing can help now.”

“I rush to her side and touch her cold skin, hoping against hope for a pulse.”

“I've tried praying. It gives me comfort. But not as much as a cup of tea and a ginger nut biscuit.”

“Pretty girls kissed me on victory day, their lips soft red petals brushing my face.”

“I decide to make the most of the time we got left before she gets too big for this small town.”

“My father said to remember your enemies as well as your friends, and don't trust either of them.”

“Nobody in school is stronger than me. But when Sally Holmes kissed me, I never felt so weak in all my life.”

“Our great adventure ran out of petrol and stopped on this farm.”

“I know that today, with a full tank, and with Annabel, that it's time to go.”

“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.”

“But when I look at this farm I keep thinking it's not whether I have the guts to go but if I have the guts to stay.”

“It was a good apple too. A good apple, picked by a madman on a full moon night.”

“She taught me what's important, and what isn't. And I've never forgotten. And that's what mothers do, I say.”

“He walks through the house of his past, hoping he'll find the right door, hoping he'll find the key.”

“I tell him everything as we walk. Maybe so he won't be disappointed being born into a place like this.”

“Emma says after I was born I cried for days. She said I'd never shut up which is funny really because Dad says I never shut up now so maybe that's what happens, you get born and act the same your whole life.”

“She didn't have an answer for that. People like her only ever have questions.”

“I work hard in the orchard, not for the money anymore, but for something I can't explain. Something worth more than money.”

“I'm not sure if my dream is a dream, or a nightmare.”

“I'm glad she left me the kids. I'd be lost without them. Lost and bitter. With them here, I'm only bitter.”

“And I feel like a real Dad when I read to her at night. She won't sleep without one story, at least.”

“I'm thinking about babies. Emma's baby. Jack and my baby. Growing in my mind, if not in my womb.”

“I'm drinking away the exam results that don't take me anywhere.”

“I'm dreaming of a month of Sundays.”

“As I stood on the lonely backroad, I'm sure I heard birds, kookaburras, laughing ...”

“Jack reads too many books. He thinks we're going to drive all year and have great adventures.”

“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.”

“Two Arts degrees does not a life make.”

“He looks again towards the door, expecting Mum to walk in and remind him of something he's forgotten. He smiles awkwardly. 'Is that it, Dad? I've got to go.' 'Your Mum said I should mention ... um ... satisfaction.' 'What!' 'She said young men should know things, should be told things so that the girl won't be ...' his eyes plead for understanding, '... disappointed.'[...] 'No worries, Dad. My biology teacher said I was a natural.' Dad looks confused.'I'm kidding, Dad.' [...] Poor bloke, having to do the dirty work while Mum's off with her gang. 'Dad? What did Grandpa tell you about sex?' 'He said if I got a girl pregnant, he'd kill me.”

“So, we skipped Annabel, and discussed condoms. I said I liked the orange ones, and we ended our talk in laughter.”

“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.”

“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…”

“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.”

“Wandering from room to room discovering another side to the moon.”

“I'd go off alone,because you can't trust those who want to break the rules and you certainly can't trust those who make the rules so you do the only thing possible,you avoid the rules.”