The tapestry of Verandah ’s 38th volume is woven with inner thoughts
that extend outwards to our indelible connection to the people, and moments that make us who we are. A river that can draw us to a need for peace and a calling for home,
whether that home be something inwardly found, or outwardly sought.
We hope you can find a tether within the pages of this volume, or a kernel of solace that reaches out to each pair of hands that fold through these pages.
 
‘I can’t fathom what Geoff  is thinking, and that worries me. We’ve been together for fifteen years. I should know. I walk through to the living room and look around – the choice of cushions or placement of the remote control might provide a clue. Maybe we’ve had the best of it, and he realised before I did.’
RABBIT HOLE | SUE BRENNAN
‘… time untiring, over-fi shing my river, not the enemy but inevitability, because the coals of my fi re burn in a deepening bed of ash.’
 
LEDGER OF YEARS | KRISTEN ROBERTS
‘The worms contract and twist under my skin and I flinch, flinch, flinch through the supermarket like I’m being electrocuted. The worms tell me to stick close to mum, so I do. The jolting doesn’t stop, but I feel less like prey. I can still recognise baring teeth, even if they’re concealed behind closed mouths.’
RECALL | Q. BLOOM
‘The waiting women along the shore make their pilgrimages to the whale shark, drifting along the sand as if borne by the trade winds.’
GOD-FISH | ELIZABETH BOURKE