UPDATE AT THE FAR END OF SUMMER

I sped past a truck on fire just after 7am today. Near Berrima. On the Hume Highway. Ablaze in the middle of mist and rain and grey, it was surreal. I called 000 for the second time in my life. The Illawarra Mercury, online, reported no one was injured.

I sent off my entry to the Voiceless Writing Prize a couple of weeks ago. Fingers crossed. I am proud of it. It's a song for my home town and for native animals and for family and a child's future amongst other things such as animal sentience, what we see as dominion, what we must do for animals, how people see animals etc. JM Coetzee is the chief judge of the Prize. Who knows what he'll be looking for... I recently read his acclaimed novel Disgrace, which was visceral, stark, economic in its language and throughly engaging; the behaviour of some of the characters disturbed and amazed me. I was left unsure of what Coetzee's message was.

Picking myself back up again after knock-backs from Cordite, The Judith Wright Poetry Prize and Abridged in Ireland.

Looking forward to hearing Anthony Lawrence (the Aussie poet I most admire) speak in Canberra next month about his chilling/bleak new collection The Welfare of My Enemy. This volume, which centres on missing persons, death, disturbed people, empty or unsettling Australian landscapes, really got to me. There wasn't much hope and light in there. Anyhow, an original, needed and uncompromising collection.

Impressed by these films new to DVD: Monsters, The Hunter, Drive, Warrior, Crazy Stupid Love.

The painting of Father Bob was the best thing in the Archibald.

Glad, thus far, that Bob Carr's back on the scene. He's erudite, articulate, focussed, a bushwalker, oceans defender, open to other cultures, concerned about inter-faith hostilities... what the ALP and Australia needs, basically. I recently heard writer/journo David Marr talking on 702 about what Australians now want from their male leaders: being blokey is no longer desired by most voters. The days of Hawkey and his beer, rough charm and larrikinism are done. From what I've read, Kevin was a success because he's nerdy, earnest, religious and conservative.

Geez, our coppers have been busy. Shootings and Taserings and car accidents. I felt for the Brazilian bloke who was shot with a Taser several times and killed for stealing biscuits in Kings Cross. Surely there was another way to have handled that.

And MKR is over. Beauty, I won't have to hear 'on the plate or 'plating up' or anything else to do with plates.

LJ, March 28 2012.