The Afterword

Tag: life

  • Still, I Stay

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    by

    Peter
    in

    —from the voice of a Syrian in exile I have never stopped dreaming of the olive trees.Even now,in this camp of sand and plastic walls,I see them when I close my eyes—the way their shadows fell across my grandfather’s fieldbefore everything cracked and scattered. Home is a scent that never fades.It lives in cardamom coffee,in…

  • Bucket Lists and Buffett Lists

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    by

    Peter
    in ,

    There’s something intoxicating about a bucket list. The name itself is cheeky and rebellious—do these things before you kick the bucket. It suggests urgency, vibrancy, life-before-death. Bucket lists seduce us with a sense of possibility: Swim in Icelandic hot springs. Walk the Great Wall. Eat something unpronounceable in a night market at midnight. The irony,…

  • The Happiness I Didn’t Buy

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    by

    Peter
    in

    Let me start with what I am not. I am not a consumer, at least not in the way the world often defines it. I buy what I need—groceries, dog food, replacement socks. But I’ve never found myself wandering through a shopping centre just to “see what’s new.” I don’t crave the latest model of…

  • The Architecture of Relationship

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    by

    Peter
    in

    They say school prepares you for life, but I think it’s more accurate to say it reveals you to yourself. If that’s true, then high school was the first place I caught a glimpse of the person I was becoming—the kind of person I wanted to be. I didn’t have the classic prelude. No pre-school…

  • To Move Together

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    by

    Peter
    in

    It’s a simple enough question—what’s the most fun way to exercise? But for me, the answer loops around in unexpected directions, landing somewhere between the paradoxical and the profound. The short answer is: with people. Always with people. But not just any people. And certainly not in any way. This in itself is strange. I’m…

  • Heartbeat

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    by

    Peter
    in

    There is something precious about the season of life that university represents. These years are often full of energy and possibility, and Robert Menzies College (RMC) gives space for students to embrace that—to enjoy the strength in their bodies, the openness of their futures, and the gift of being with others who are also finding…

  • Poem for a Friend

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    by

    Peter
    in

    You stand in a culture that sells mirrorsand handcuffs them to worth.Scales. Dress sizes.The photo where your arms looked better—these are its gods. But you are not here to worship.You are here to rearrange the furniture. You’ve always loved the misfits.Not just the ones who bloom late,but the ones who don’t knowthey were planted at…

  • Through Seventy Years

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    by

    Peter
    in

    Based on the Life Stories of Trevor & Patricia DavisWritten for their 70th Wedding Anniversary, 1 January 2025 It started with a barn dance,two strangers moving to the same rhythm.A quiet smile, a tentative question,May I walk you home?Patricia took a chance and said yes,and from that moment,two paths became one. Clarence Street saw your…