Published in Overland Issue 207 Winter 2012 · Uncategorized Islands Andy Quan I am sleeping tonight side by side with my mother on spring and feather, matching queen-sized mattresses, in the adjoining room my brother and his family. We’ve escaped Vancouver where father has died for Victoria’s quaint tea and saucers, halibut and chips, cream-filled chocolates, Salish art, a visit to eldest brother’s duplex, parks for the grandkids to run free. Distract us. Today, I leveraged grief for a table at a packed restaurant. How long can we get away with that? Mom ponders. Now, she surprises me, channel- surfing: CSI New York, Evening News. Rest is all I want, the narrow corridor between our beds, thirty-five years between us, our islands of sorrow barely visible to each other but I understand my role as company, as witness. Andy Quan Andy Quan is the author of four books, including two books of poetry, the most recent of which is Bowling Pin Fire. He has lived in Sydney since 1999 where he edits, writes, cycles, facebooks, watches reality TV cooking shows and coaxes rainbow lorikeets to his balcony. Visit him here at www.andyquan.com. More by Andy Quan › Overland is a not-for-profit magazine with a proud history of supporting writers, and publishing ideas and voices often excluded from other places. If you like this piece, or support Overland’s work in general, please subscribe or donate. Related articles & Essays 22 May 202522 May 2025 · Reviews Limited hangouts: a review-interview of John Hughes’ Twilight Time Cher Tan Released in 2024 and screened for the first time at the Melbourne International Film Festival, Twilight Time charts Des Ball’s life and work. Yet it is also about one of the biggest elephants in Australia’s room: its close ties with the United States of America. 21 May 202521 May 2025 · Kashmir The imperative to condemn and the politics of appeal: from Palestine to Kashmir Azadeh and Heba A Liberation for Kashmiris, as with Palestinians, can only come through reclaiming the right to a political existence that encompasses the full spectrum of human response to oppression. This includes memory, grief, rage, and the refusal to perform docility.