Feature: Horizons, January 2008 It is utterly still here. The sky is hard blue like pottery glaze. The skeletons of spring’s daisies – little papery discs on dessicated stems – stand stiffly between small, sharp, black stones. An invisible insect flies past, making a metallic whirring noise like a miniaturised helicopter. The sound stretches until it melts back into the hot silence. Nothing thrives here. Except us. Tankwa Town, a...

Cover feature: SL magazine, November 1999 I first realised Helen was an amputee on a summer’s day at the Rhodes Memorial reservoir. We all took off our tops. We all took off our shorts. Helen took off her left leg. We all swam. Sitting on the bank, I watched her balance heron-like on a protruding pylon far out into the reservoir, strong and steady, before diving into the water. When I told people I was writing an article on amputees the common...