The White Wolf Ancestry of Romans, Genghis Khan, Turks, and Dacians

Rome, the Capitoline She-Wolf with Romulus and Remus, photographed by my daughter Lysandra Furstenberg

There are stories that refuse to stay in one place. They move through empires and forests, from the hills of Rome to the endless grasslands of the steppe, carried not in stone, but in memory and blood. Again and again, across distant peoples, the same figure appears: not crowned, not tamed, but wild: the wolf.

From the White Wolf and the Lupercal cave in Rome, to the wolfish-blood origin of the Mongols, the She-Wolf Asena ancestry of the Turks and, of course, to the fearless Zalmoxis and the Great White Wolf of the Dacians let’s follow the wolf.

31/05/202531/05/2025

Poppies Pressed in Parting, a Short Story

German pointer dog in a field of poppies at sunset

Pressed Poppies is a short story told through two voices, echoing across the quiet space where hearts once met. It is a story of parting. A parting that is wordless, weighted, and irreversible. Where affection shrinks under the burden of duty or pain; where all that was left is unsaid. What remains is remembrance: delicate, haunting and full of questions. And red, as the poppies once shared.

Out on Spillwords Press today!

15/02/202522/02/2025

The Legend of the Lilly Pilly and How to Make This Delicious Jam

lilly pilly tree with small red berry fruit

The Legend of the Lilly Pilly Spirit

Long ago, before the land bore the marks of iron and stone, the first people of the great southern lands spoke of a tree unlike any other—the Lilly Pilly. It was said that this tree had been a gift from the Spirit of the Waters who moved unseen through the world, whispering wisdom to those who listened.

29/05/202114/04/2025

Why a Traveler Better be Watchful Near Apes

the ape and the travelers, an unusual fable

Ever found yourself a traveler in the land of apes? We found ourselves in a different kind of primate land once, holidaying in Durban, on the KwaZulu-Natal coast of the Indian Ocean. We were enjoying the ocean’s breeze coming through the open balcony door when with it in jumped a monkey! Bouncing from the neighboring tree onto the balcony ledge, then into the living room and up on the kitchen island where she picked her reward, a bunch of bananas!

Had she thanked us? I think she waved – her tail. Better the bananas than the car keys nearby…

29/04/202114/04/2025

The DOG and his Reflection, a fable

Dogs must be the most unselfish creatures on earth, yet The Dog and his Reflection is a fable about a foolish, greedy mutt who was not content with what he already had – and that sounds familiar…