Liat Lev

August 2025

I’m standing

at the checkout line

in Coles, staring at my muddy boots

and wondering

if we’ll ever recover

our ailing sense of wonder

in an environment like this -

when the girl behind the counter asks me brightly

if I’m having a ‘nice day’?

.

I tell her I’ve just been

to a funeral

and notice - it was not

the response she was hoping for.

.

She starts scanning my oranges, mints, chocolate and tomatoes

with a clipped, purposeful air,

avoiding my gaze or presence.

.

“It’s OK”, I say.

“They had a good life,

a good death - at home

near loved ones -

and that’s all anyone can hope for”.

.

“Oh” - she says

and leans in close.

She’s young.

No more than 20-21.

“I’ve been listening to this podcast”, she says

about death and dying and did you know…?” she singsong asks,

“that in India,

they burn their dead people in the streets?”

.

It’s a mic-drop moment for her

so she pauses.

.

“Yes” I answer.

“I’ve seen it:

Colourful, beautiful,

luminous death pyres on the Ganges”.

.

I’m almost crying describing the scene to her

and her grey eyes widen - as she gets the full measure of me -

inhales, and takes the risk:

“I believe in reincarnation” she whispers quickly.

.

It’s a confession

to a stranger

and I love her for it.

.

Instantly she is sister, mother,

the Buddha, an angel,

and all the bodhisattvas rolled into one.

We are meeting -

in that mysterious timezone continuum - between

forever and never.

.

We’re standing on a mountain-top

sitting by the riverbank

loose amongst the stars

and wild beneath the trees

sidestepping our identities

collapsing time and space

when she says:

“That will be $283.50, please - even”.

.

I blink my way back,

rummage for my notes,

and fish out the coins because

as we all know by now - Cash is King -

and this young woman - my uncrowned Queen.

.

I float out of the supermarket -

grief still blooming wildly in my heart,

but I’m satisfied -

Wonder has ambushed me again.

.

Not lost, nor ailing, but ever-present.

Hiding in plain sight -

this time,

under life’s fluorescent light.

.

Original Artwork : 'Making a Wish' - by Moish Sokal, (my dad). https://moishsokal.co.uk/

Made with love by engana.com.au