April 15

a colleague overheard
saying
“that’s the problem with teenage drinking,
a bunch of young girls were flaunting it on a train
attracting the attention
of drunken uni students zooming in on them
f’ in this f’ in that
the girls were apparently
an ‘insult to the profession’”

April 12- Sunday walk

Drooping rose heads
wilting down at me
from the top of a fence

Indian Minas [birds] they’re not singing but clicking
Hedges along the town-houses on Perth street need a haircut
a couple of chairs in the front yard
and an ash tray full of butts

The India Hut has changed its menu
now there’s a five percent discount on take-away
but the $20 non vegetarian deal now includes

2 shisk-a- babs
2 chicken tikkas
standard Lamb Madras
Butter chicken
2 PLain Naan breads
raita
Rice and 2 pappadums -

but it’s now thirty five dollars
instead of twenty
but hey! They’ve got to stay in business
and that’s what it costs
I won’t be returning at that price
I also noted the Thai Cafe
raised their rate by fifty cents
from six fifty to seven
I mean who’s going to go complaining about that
they win my business again

The Prahran hotel
usually adorned with chalk motifs
of what’s on
and what’s on special
is strangely blank
as if Easter came
and wiped it’s sins away

It’s Easter
‘it’s April and it’s still hot
at ten in the morning
it’s twenty five degrees

A fellow walks by
with a bunch of keys
jingling from his backpack
he’s like a lost cow
on the mountainous roads of the city

The site of what was once a brand name service station
became an Eco-friendly place
selling environmentally friendly petrol
made from recycled cooking oil and things distilled from crops.
It’s been demolished
with a billboard suggesting a brand new Hotel
and residential apartments
to be built on this spot very ‘soon’

For now it’s a series of mounds
surrounded by a chain link fence
wrapped in a cardigan of opaque shadecloth and nets
Inside it’s a lunar landscape
filled with weeds and excavations
and protruding pvc piping

I realizing there’s a lot of old buildings
around where I am
looking across to what was once my Gym,
- now closed down -
The building is quite elegant
with slotted windows
and clovered portals
and neatly contrasting brickwork
- reflecting the style of the church just down the road
between them towers
a construction crane
it’s dormant now
but will come to life again
when the holiday is over
after the ‘long weekend’
the big sleep in for all those who don’t believe
in he who saved the world.
That’s a strange thing
everyone was wishing me
a ‘happy’ Easter.
Should it be?
should it be more like
have a contemplative Easter?

Water mains
poking out of the ground
like the big claws of a Dragon
or a Gryphon
thick set gnarly pipes
you just want to sink your teeth in
to that back flow pressure

A train crosses a bridge sounding like a military barrage
Standing at a crossing, the traffic light poles click
Greek orthodox service on high street
the call of the cantor echoing out [ is it safe to cross?]

A small milk bar
someone emerges with their Sunday paper
there’s a particular smell in there
I can’t explain
I grew up in it
so it might have altered my brain
or made me immune
it’s dust
and it’s packets
and the latest unwrappings
of new things delivered
to be sold on demand

Temptation
it’s probably easy to ‘go there’
but it’s harder later
to deal with consequences
when you’ve engaged in actions

it’s not something you’d think about
while you’re driven by instinct
but consequences might be
shame or guilt
or not liking your name

the guilt you might feel
if you continue to steal.
Is a moments pleasure
worth a lifetime to measure?

A space near the housing commission
an oasis
in the deserts of concrete
and the boredom of the streets
branches reach out and support one another
trees planted weave together
a wicker basket that captures the light
and filters it
onto roasted almond autumn leaves

Construction cranes
how do they make them?
How do they get them up there?
This one seems to have an arm
the length of a football field
how did they build it?
Amazing!
There’s a ladder
it runs right up the middle
and everyday
somebody
must climb up to the cabin
and overcome
their fear of heights
fear of falling
so they can continue
with the construction
the all important task
but what if the man
operating the machine
had his share
of world wearying problems
and every night
he gets home
opens a beer
and watches something
on the mind numbing telly
and feeds himself
from the delicatessen
More beer? – imported or local?
his decision
‘as long as he feels ‘right’ in the morning
nothing matters
nobody cares
and what if he could overcome
his problems
the way he climbs up those stairs
in the mornings
with a target
full of purpose
knowing he won’t want to make a single mistake
listening closely for that whistle
or the squelch of static on the CB radio
he will overcome
he will overcome
his drinking problem

The Chapel Plaza Public Car Park
something I’ve never noticed before
even though I’ve walked this way
a hundred times
it’s hidden away on some upper level
you only see what you want to see don’t you?
Next Right
open seven days
24 hours
Pay and Display

Sunday breakfast at the Cafe Sienna
the one with Porsches and Ferraris

Why do celebrities marry each other?
is it because they share the same experience?

Puffy pigeons perched in the shade
of a tawdry town hall awning
puffy legs
starry toes
crooked necks
they come asking pleading questions