Triangles of Spangles

Perhaps it will work for you if I explain it, Pliny, I said.

Go on, he replied, but symbolism is of little use if it has to be explained.

Alright I won't then, I said.

No, go on. Why does the triangle of spangles represent political harmony?

Because it has three sides, equally balanced, I said.

You didn't say it was an equilateral triangle, said Pliny.

Well it was. Each side represents the players in the political drama that we are currently faced with, Labor, the Coalition, and the Independents and Greens.

That is four, said Pliny, reasonably. Or five if you split the Coalition.

Alright, I said. But you could think of them as three.

You could, agreed Pliny. It is interesting, he added, that a triangle of light was formed on the surface of the sea. Was there a triangular hole in the clouds?

No, isn't that just the way the sun shines on the sea? Spreading from a point on the horizon?

Of course not, said Pliny scornfully. It generally throws a straight path across the water from the horizon to the observer.

Oh, I said. Then it was more an omen than a symbol. Just like your baby whale! And you know what? Later on in the afternoon I saw a dolphin! I remember it clearly now.

Pliny sighed.