Published in Overland Issue 240 Spring 2020 · Uncategorized I can't make a living Adam Ford out of watching butterflies drinking turtles’ tears on the internet. My family won’t benefit financially from the quickening pulse and close-held breath that make sunlight slow and smooth on orange wings glowing and flickering around wise and patient reptilian eyes. No skills are gained or improved upon by spending moments so idly. No tangible ROI comes from resisting the urge to reach through the screen and touch the tiny strobing vortex of light and pigment landing a million quick kisses on such a stoic recipient. There is no profit in this, no place for it on any resume, no KSC or KPI addressed. Watching butterflies drinking turtles’ tears on the internet is wholly unsustainable, a complete misappropriation, a truly and gloriously shameless waste of my time. Read the rest of Overland 240 If you enjoyed this piece, buy the issue Or subscribe and receive four brilliant issues for a year Adam Ford Adam Ford is the author of Man Bites Dog, The Third Fruit is a Bird, Not Quite the Man for the Job and Heroes and Civilians. He has written for Australian Author, Desktop, Going Down Swinging and Cordite. He blogs at theotheradamford. More by Adam Ford › 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 1 First published in Overland Issue 228 28 September 202328 September 2023 · Cartoons Ban cars from the city Sam Wallman Sam Wallman makes the case for closing the streets off one by one. 1 First published in Overland Issue 228 27 September 2023 · Sport When the sport circus comes on Country Jenny Fraser The next huckster in the carnival of sport is the upcoming 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games. If we want aspects of it to be in line with Aboriginal protocol, we need action from across the four winds of the world. If it’s not done right we need solidarity and protest just the same. We are each other’s safety net in this theatre of sport. As a senior Aboriginal woman activist once told me, ‘we are all only as good as we negotiate’.