‘THE KENDAI IS a fake bluefin, a hatchery bum, with no more understanding of the sea than a concubine in the court of Genghis Khan.’ Pilots who ditch their planes and take to a life raft qualify ipso facto for the Goldfish Club. Crossing-the-line humiliation brings protection by order of King Neptune. Copies of certificates, […]

‘THE CALL FROM tree to tree makes total sense of the darkness. The wood just woke me when it drained itself of light – you too!’ They venture from their lairs, a furtive demolition crew. Daylight, not this dark, is the realm of secrets. The woodland floor is teeming – careless around the base of […]

Robert Saxton: ‘You’re still planning your reckless adventure, pondering what you’ll need?
Just take half the clothes and twice the money, and go.’

‘A HIGHLIGHT OF the first International Phonetics Symposium will be a click song in Ndebele – with drum accompaniment (tsk! tsk!).’ Mouth breathing, speaking of the private troubles of the nose, shows symptoms akin to vacancy. Yogis find the practice disgusting. Exhalation through the broad hatch of the mouth reduces back pressure, hastening air escape, […]

‘THOUGH THEIR FAITH requires slenderness, transparency for the landscape, there’s an issue all bridge-makers face: the curse of the signature.’ Stresses hold their balance for the leap from shore to shore. Those who wish to linger often reduce themselves to some special provision, an eddy in the flow. Minutes are precious but an hour feels […]

‘“SECRET EMBARRASSMENTS ARE different from embarrassing secrets,” explains the blush therapist with a reassuring smile.’ Secrets are among our impurities, the logic of experience crookedly unfolded at our feet. Once told, they can lash the soul with broken chains: is it better to live with the shackles? A lie may be a trial run: if […]

‘A HORSE CAN unseat a prince and get away with it, so long as the prince is neither a child nor scared of his people.’ Never yet recorded, the closest secret is earthed when a rider dismounts: it retreats to the columbarium of mysteries. Two riders who meet in a hayloft may occasionally borrow that […]

‘NO SENSE OF an overcrowded nation at your back as you stand on the shore, gazing at the sea’s horizon: only the love of a continent.’ A private island you can walk around in a morning has come onto the market. One tree is a famous visiting book. See the earrings screwed into the bark? […]