A PIECE OF STÉPHANE MALLARMÉ

Stéphane Mallarmé’s son died from an illness he inherited from his father. The tortured poet wrote -

           feel you

so strongly - and that you

are always

well with

us, father, mother

<meadows> - but

free, eternal

child, and everywhere

at once –

It is so easy to fall into despair, ‘hide within our wounds’, spiral into a darkness of our own misfortune—but, in doing so, we lose our ability to feel the presence of those we have lost, or indeed are losing, as they call to us—‘free, eternal and everywhere at once.’ These presences speak to our uncertain future, they warn and instruct us. We must listen. Love to Australia, Susie x