A MIDLAND TWILIGHT
The cloud-plumed afternoon has flown along the household street,
Leaf-shadows flicker. Freshly strown, the sprays whir. Far and fleet,
Hushed, furtive footsteps dodge and creep, and hunting voices call,
"I spy," and "One, two, three for you," around the street's still hall.
The little winds of twilight blow. Upon the hop-scotch chaclk,
Home-turning footsteps come and go along the dappled walk.
The little winds of twilight blow closed flower and full-stirred tree;
And far and near a singing voice cries, "All sorts out in free!"
The cloud-plumed afternoon has flown, slow-winging, green and bright;
And all the dreams her hours have known turn with her toward the night --
Beyond that first cool snowdrop star above the roof-rimmed way.
Home and the night -- profound for me, and happy their wide grace
Thrills through the wind, the full-stirred tree, fleet game and white-starred space.
Deep by their ways may my soul live, as by her halidome,
Through all her cloud-plumed day-time hours: and when to my great home,
Home and the night, at last I come, so may it be for me:
Peace; in my heart, a fresh voice singing. "All sorts out in free."
by Edith Wyatt
(McClures Magazine 1909)
CONTEMPORARY FICTION SET IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND (2023)
On paper, things look fine. Sam Dennon recently inherited significant wealth from his uncle. As a respected architect, Sam spends his days thinking about the family needs and rich lives of his clients. But privately? Even his enduring love of amateur astronomy is on the wane. Sam has built a sustainable-architecture display home for himself but hasn’t yet moved into it, preferring to sleep in his cocoon of a campervan. Although they never announced it publicly, Sam’s wife and business partner ended their marriage years ago due to lack of intimacy, leaving Sam with the sense he is irreparably broken.
Now his beloved uncle has died. An intensifying fear manifests as health anxiety, with night terrors from a half-remembered early childhood event. To assuage the loneliness, Sam embarks on a Personal Happiness Project: