Emotional journeys

Love at 18

I went out with Felina for about five months. I nursed my broken heart for about five years. (Can an 18-year-old be so in love?) Later, Felina had babies with a succession of pop stars. Or was it only one? I don't know." Read this heart-rending account of youthful passion and its ugly consequences.

My mum couldn't jump puddles

I could not believe my eyes when my mother stood up and walked towards me. Mum had died years earlier. When she was alive, she was in a wheelchair and I never saw her walk. But this wasn't my mother. It was her sister Elsie, who I hadn’t seen for forty years. For a bewildering moment, though, I had thought it was mum. Auntie Elsie extended her hand and said, "Welcome to Africa."

The Bridge and the Fire

by Robbo Bennetts
published in Overland, issue 243, Winter 2021

I want to begin by acknowledging the enduring loss experienced by those whose family members, loved ones and workmates died in Australia’s worst industrial accident. I started on the West Gate Bridge well after the collapse, and I often wondered if only those there on the day could fully comprehend the human dimensions of its tragedy.

Decades later, my question was answered when I saw it through the prism of my experience of another catastrophe.

Read the full article at https://overland.org.au/previous-issues/issue-243/feature-the-bridge-and-the-fire/