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Contributing Writer Storytelling & Travel Writing

Tom Bretherton

Tom Bretherton has spent the better part of two decades travelling, and the better part of that time paying attention. He has contributed to Light & Composition since 2014 with a writer's instinct for the particular — the name of a town, the timing of a conversation, the kind of detail that makes a story feel true. His Reflections are brief narratives that arrive at something universal by way of somewhere very specific.

621 Published Reflections

Reflections by Tom Bretherton

Showing 12 of 621 essays
The Sunday Ritual Photo of the Day
February 25, 2017

The Sunday Ritual

My grandmother used to say that the secret to a good life was found in the steam rising from a bowl. She lived in a small flat in Bologna, where the kitchen was always too hot and the radio was always playing something slightly out of tune. On Sundays, she would stand over the stove, […]
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The Weight of a Wingbeat Photo of the Day
February 22, 2017

The Weight of a Wingbeat

I remember sitting on a porch in the Blue Mountains, watching a honeyeater hover near a cluster of grevillea. It was a frantic, shivering sort of existence—a creature built entirely of nervous energy and hunger. My grandfather, who had spent his life tending to the same garden, told me that if you watch them long […]
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The Unblinking Witness Photo of the Day
February 17, 2017

The Unblinking Witness

I once spent an afternoon sitting on a stone wall in the Scottish Highlands with an old shepherd named Ewan. He didn’t say a word for nearly two hours, just watched the horizon with a stillness that felt almost heavy. When I finally asked him what he was waiting for, he pointed to a speck […]
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The Gravity of Youth Photo of the Day
February 14, 2017

The Gravity of Youth

I remember a boy named Elias who spent his entire summer on a rusted skateboard at the bottom of Miller’s Hill. He wasn’t trying to get anywhere; he was simply testing the friction between his rubber soles and the asphalt. Every afternoon, he would throw himself into the descent, his body leaning into the curve […]
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The Weight of the Water Photo of the Day
February 10, 2017

The Weight of the Water

I remember a fisherman in a small village near the coast who told me that the water never asks for anything in return. He spent his mornings standing on the edge of his wooden boat, balancing with a grace that seemed to defy the shifting currents beneath him. He didn’t use his hands to steer; […]
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The Song of the Highlands Photo of the Day
February 10, 2017

The Song of the Highlands

I met an old man in a village near the mountains who spent his afternoons playing a bamboo flute that looked as worn as his hands. He didn’t play for an audience, and he didn’t play for money. He told me the melody was just a way to keep the mountain air from feeling too […]
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The Rhythm of the Tide Photo of the Day
February 5, 2017

The Rhythm of the Tide

I once spent an afternoon watching an old man mend a net on the docks in Marseille. He didn’t look up once, his fingers moving with a muscle memory that seemed older than the harbor itself. I asked him if he ever grew tired of the repetition, of the same knots and the same grey […]
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The Rhythm of the March Photo of the Day
January 31, 2017

The Rhythm of the March

I remember walking through a crowded terminal in Berlin, feeling entirely out of step with the rush of commuters. Everyone seemed to be moving to a different, invisible tempo—some frantic, some dawdling, all of them caught in the friction of getting somewhere else. Then, I saw a group of schoolchildren in matching yellow vests, walking […]
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The Weight of Stillness Photo of the Day
January 22, 2017

The Weight of Stillness

I met a woman in a small tea house in the high mountains who spent her afternoons simply folding and unfolding a silk scarf. She didn’t speak much, but her hands moved with a deliberate, rhythmic grace that made the rest of the room feel frantic by comparison. I asked her once why she did […]
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The Weight of the Wing Photo of the Day
January 22, 2017

The Weight of the Wing

I remember sitting by the edge of the Muhuri River in Feni, watching the light turn thin and grey as the afternoon slipped away. An old fisherman named Idris was mending his nets nearby, his hands moving with a rhythm that seemed older than the water itself. He told me that the birds here don’t […]
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The Rhythm of Transit Photo of the Day
January 7, 2017

The Rhythm of Transit

I remember sitting on a wooden bench in a station in Lyon, watching the evening commuters blur into a single, rushing tide. An old man sat next to me, peeling an orange with a small pocketknife. He didn’t look up at the departures board or check his watch. He told me he liked the station […]
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The Flour on Her Hands Photo of the Day
December 23, 2016

The Flour on Her Hands

My grandmother used to say that you can tell a person’s character by the way they handle dough. She lived in a small stone house in Nicosia, where the kitchen was always thick with the smell of yeast and warm oil. I remember watching her fingers move—rhythmic, patient, almost reverent. She didn’t just make dinner; […]
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