Adversity is relative. When we are toddlers a soggy nappy is Armageddon, in high school double-homework on the Friday afternoon is a catastrophe. In adult life, hardship mans up, expands exponentially and kicks into fifth gear, but still, when compared to almost anyone else on the planet, we get it easy. When Mark ‘Mono’ Stewart […]

When you think of kayaking in Byron Bay, two things spring to mind: backpackers and the ocean. True, this is an enjoyable and quintessentially Byronian experience, bragging the money-back guarantee of spotting whales, dolphins or turtles, but it’s not really everyone’s idea of a good time. With crashing waves, dentally over-endowed sea life and a […]

You can’t always get what you want. So said a bunch of London larrikins back in late 1968, but, their lavish-lipped frontman crooned, if you try sometimes, you get what you need. This isn’t some lame anecdote or animal rights sermon. We all have our dietary choices and requirements, from veganism to coeliac, Paleo to […]

It could be said that, for the greater part, this year’s Splendour in the Grass was blessed with fine weather and the best a Byron winter can offer – clear, blue skies, warm days and mostly dry nights. But a wet preceding week and a couple of heavy, though short-lived downpours swiftly turned the high-traffic […]

Let’s be the onesLooking the other way,Laughing in gridlock,Racing up the down escalator To break the mundane commute.Let’s be the onesPlaying in the rain,Slow-dancing to silence,Finding joy in those momentsWhen others wear a frown.Let’s be the onesRunning in the hallways,Walking barefoot in the cities,Seeing masterpieces in the structuresOf a grey and lifeless world.Let’s be the onesChasing […]

You have broken my world,Razed my walls, fractured the illusionsSo carefully crafted for just such moments.Disarmed and naked, you have stolen My sanctuary in solitude.For so long, I have run away,Run inside, run deep into the shadowsThat no light could penetrate,Into the safety of anonymity,Into the safety of alone.My cocoon is gone,That hermitage of growth and […]

Hidden beneath the masquerade Of 13,000 days,I threw endless fractured heartbeats Into the abyss of time. Forgotten and neglected,Rusted and unused,My soul dripped thirsty petalsInto every hollow footprint. Every breath a final death rattle repeated,Lost and empty, purposeless in its futility.And then you. You do not see the masksI cower from the world behind.You count each single […]

Take her hand,Trust.Promise her your faith,For she will be your guideIn distant lands,You lighthouseThrough the storms,She holds the keyTo a thousand doors,The answerTo a thousand secrets.She will give youEndless gifts,The sweetest fruitYour tongue may ever touch,The purest waterTo grace your parched and aching throat.But you must see.Give her your eyesAnd your earsIn darkness and silence,Give […]

We feed these nauseous torments, These kindred foes,Indian givers all,Who proffer shiny trinketsWith sleight of hand trickeries.We buy their lies and craft our lives On their snake oil promisesAnd empty dreams.We pay with our souls, our breath and time For maybes of tomorrow’s dawningAnd wishes that playIn our fingertips.They give hope for the hopelessBut abrupt awakeningsFrom the dreamer’s […]