Alphareader - Danielle Binks

Poem by Naomi Shihab Nye, whose father was a Palestinian refugee. From her 2019 book; ‘The Tiny Journalist’

Sometimes the briefest moments capture us, force us to take them in, and demand that we live the rest of our lives in reference to them.

'Autobiography of a face' by Lucy Grealy

That's just the kind of person I am. I'm the scratchy stuff on the side of the matchbox. But that's fine with me. I don't mind at all. Better to be the first-class matchbox than a second-class match.

'Norweigan Wood' by Haruki Murakami 

What, drawn, and talk of peace? I hate the word, As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee.

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare 

I really wondered why people were always doing what they didn't like doing. It seemed like life was a sort of narrowing tunnel. Right when you were born, the tunnel was huge. You could be anything. Then, like, the absolute second after you were born, the tunnel narrowed down to about half that size. You were a boy, and already it was certain you wouldn't be a mother and it was likely you wouldn't become a manicurist or a kindergarten teacher. Then you started to grow up and everything you did closed the tunnel in some more. You broke your arm climbing a tree and you ruled out being a baseball pitcher. You failed every math test you ever took and you canceled any hope of ever being a scientist. Like that. On and on through the years until you were stuck. You'd become a baker or a librarian or a bartender. Or an accountant. And there you were. I figured that on the day you died, the tunnel would be so narrow, you'd have squeezed yourself in with so many choices, that you just got squashed.

'Tell the Wolves I'm Home' by Carol Rifka Brunt

Outgoing Australian of the Year - Grace Tame - meets with Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Photographs by Alex Ellinghausen. Worth noting that this same government failed to include Grace in their child sex abuse strategy (despite being a childhood sexual abuse survivor herself and spreading the word about the “Let Her Speak,” campaign), the government that stood with Christian Porter and Andrew Laming, that “paused” the investigation into the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins that happened at Parliament … they don’t deserve civility or respect from this activist. And no woman owes you a smile. Or a photo opportunity. Grace Tame - rock on 🤘

‘Perfect Strom’ by T. Hanuka for The New Yorker, Feb 2014 

Listen. To live is to be marked. To live is to change, to acquire the words of a story, and that is the only celebration we mortals really know. In perfect stillness, frankly, I've only ever found sorrow.

'The Poisonwood Bible' by Barbara Kingsolver