Poetic Justice: Yes/no….yeah…nahI’m really concerned about the way...

Poetic Justice: Yes/no….yeah…nahI’m really concerned about the way...: Yes/no….yeah…nah I’m really concerned about the way that Australia's ‘yes’ ‘no’ 'marriage equality' survey is setting us all ...

Yes/no….yeah…nah

I’m really concerned about the way that Australia's ‘yes’ ‘no’ 'marriage equality' survey is setting us all up to unwittingly comprise our values.  Can we really promote the values of rights and equality when we engage in a polarising fight?

‘I’m not sure how I feel about it, but that person over there is waving a flag and is haranguing me to check the box that they insist upon. Bugger them, they can’t tell me what to do.’

Binary ways of thinking or behaving have a way of unsettling us, making us feel threatened. They corral us into formulating an ‘equal and opposite reaction’.

Yes or no really should not be the point.

I know for a fact that all humans have the same basic needs: to safety, lodgings, food, water, freedom, employment, religious expression, racial inclusion etc…I don’t think many people would disagree with this. I think most people would agree that when these needs are fulfilled society functions best.

We live in a civil society, which means the laws of this country apply to us all, to ensure we are safe-guarded in various spheres of life, and that society remains as stable as possible according the ‘agreed’/dominant values of the time. I’m really proud that Australian law protects the rights of people with disabilities, validates racial diversity, and recognises people’s rights to religious expression. The family law act governs the civil dissolution of marriage and division of property. Our laws protect our right to safety, and our right to make advanced directives about our children’s care in the event of illness or death, our property and our personal wellbeing. The intention of Australia legislation is to ensure that we are all taken care of, as best as an overarching set of regulations in a subjective decision making environment can do.

On the basis of current legislation, it’s apparent that Australian society values inclusion, safety and wellbeing for all. There is no grounds for debate within this value set. And from here it follows that we ought to all be treated as equal under the law.

I really don’t understand the inherent hypocrisy that certain groups of us, dwelling on Australian soil, either as citizens or otherwise, must adhere to all laws, but conversely the benefits of some of those laws are withheld from them. People on Manus Island (under our jurisdiction) must abide by Australian and international law, but are not protected by these laws when assaulted, or injured; do not have the right to medical treatment, to safe lodgings, employment, etc…. I do not understand why in Aboriginal communities policies are applied that limit freedom of choice and movement, that are not applied to non-Aboriginal people.

And why is it that children, who may have two Mums or two Dads, are excluded from the legislated safety net that is deemed essential for other children: these safeguards being the Family Law Act, and laws about inheritance and custody. Why must we discriminate in such a way that leaves some children and their parents incredibly vulnerable?

Wake up Australia. The polarising survey is a foil, set up to manipulate us into thinking that there’s a fight to be had, and that if I don’t fight for one or the other position, then something awful will happen to either me, my loved ones, or my society. The matter is not simply about the right to marry. It's about the legislated rights marriage then affords people.

Something awful is already happening. Heterosexual people are harping loudly in cafes about their steadfast opinions and their ‘right’ to chose yes or no. And when people in either camp overhear the other, the fight is on! And those who are at risk of being significantly affected by these choices (lovers, partners, parents, children), who overhear these conversations experience their identities and lives objectified, vilified, generalised, sanctified… othered, silenced.

I really like the idea of an Australian society that includes and equally respects us all as fellow human travellers, a society within which our basic needs and rights are safeguarded regardless of our difference. Can’t we just get on with what we purport to be our core Australian values, which we craftily promote to the rest of the world, but don't hold true…egalitarianism and diversity.

This Life Takes Passengers

Crow, dead in the gutter.

No more roof or rafter,

before or after.

Death tailgates breath.

It’s a wide open road.

A blister erupts on the soul.

Heaven awaits rapture.

People, be on alert -

While there’s hope in darktown

The half cup empties the well.

Growling gut loosed dog craving

Godforsucculent decay.  

Lips thicken and slack.

Tongue warms, grows fat.

Sighing groin slips cold.

Behaviour of old, husbandry and hunting.

The breeze of change has two poles,

both erect and dangerous.

Life and love terms estranged.

There’s always another way.

Alone and unable to bare the light.

Eyes are blunt and throat is weak.

The pulse defies despite.

Where life dreams of rain

Compost stews seeds inside.

Channels and weave and tolls

Can’t be discrete. This life,

A collision is bound to happen.

Let’s hope it’s a harbinger

Of places impossibly imagined.

This life takes passengers.

Desire expects to arrive.

The lonely bus whose driver

Is tired, cuts a curb.

A traveller on wing expires.

Dear John, A Man of Letters

You know why a man

Might seduce a girl your daughter’s age.

You’ve told her to wear dresses,

Close her legs when she sits like that.

Help her mother.

Where’s the line?

You thought you were the line.

He took her to the dairy when she was 15.

A kiss is something a girl knows, 

But why did he run pressing his long pants so?

She is learning her role.

To be hurt, wait and never show.

He took her to the beach

Perfect Love, their own Blue Lagoon.

He touched and taught her –

And she will always feel

The shape of what remains.

Teacher at a Catholic school,

He ran the gauntlet, slipped the noose, but kept the habit.

From OS he sent ‘love you’, ‘love you not’ letters, 

He plucked her petals – 

And returned to a stem.

Once back his hand goes

To her closest place and she clamps closed.

The shield is shame and hate.

I would rather burn, says she.

I’m too brittle and you’re too late.

So much writing! She has kept evidence

 - of  words, feelings, touch.

And depression, scaffolding for all that.

It’s kept the girl alive, in a way.

In dreams she cuts herself.

And Man where are you now?

Free coward, trader of daughters.

Why are you sleeping so sound? 

Dream prose, Greece.

I stole a thing from the bow of an old man's boat near the Tropic of Cancer - a souvenir of his priceless cataract view, a kaleidoscope twist on the never-ending story of yoyo yearning, advertorial malleable malaise, bottle stopper love charades, youth lost on pageants of unfixable unbuyable beauty, seas cruised in aid of nothing, irretractable phallic lust machines, the endless dreamless night.

I wanted an old man's shuttered eyelid drawbridge view of my soon spoiled birth and soiled palette of over baked golden skin hues.

I saw his untended nets. I saw his life as one long last day that began virgin tight and unsinkable. I saw the dead muse.

I stole from an old man a carapace as disgraced as a volcano, as telling as an unearned coin and as putrid as forever; but it was just a silent cold thing.

haiku2

Dear love lullaby 
thoughts of you rock me to sleep 
cloud hugs moon touch us

Haiku

The big bang made man
In seven days man made god
God then made poems

Life and Lives Circa 1885/1985

In a past life I was a witch. In the recent past I worked in Little Bourke Street as a Rotation Decoy for an Introduction Agency. And today, I recline in a banana lounge reflecting on my newfound serenity and the journey that brought me here.

            There I am doing the daily city circuit. On the record, I’m running chores for the office, posting mail and buying supplies – A4 envelopes, a copy of the Truth newspaper, and a bottle of single malt whisky to whet the boss’s whistle. On the B-side, I give the eye to likely looking blokes and slip them a brochure. After a year in this job I’ve really got the hang of it. I catch his eye, pass it, then withdraw into the crowd while glancing over my shoulder. Yeah, I’m a pied piper for men with dormant willies.

           

The job was advertised as “An opportunity of a lifetime – no experience, no auditions necessary”. The Job Description was less discrete: “Reception duties, office errands, roll playing as generic single women, and general administrative tasks”. I’m curious by nature and enjoy an adventure. How hard could it be playing a seduction game that pays the bills?

I sit in the mall and watch South Yarra Blonde Mums, kids in childcare and voracious for a Myers special; a flock of awkwardly smoking truants with uniforms poking out of school bags; the greasy haired down and outers that I track and trap. The chaos and vulnerability of human flotsam disturbs and bemuses me.

            It’s Friday afternoon and I’ve one more hour of client contact back in the office. Malcolm, the boss, gives me the usual “you’re late!” look, with arched eyebrow. I return it with the “do I care?” look, chirp the same old excuse and turn to the adjacent change-room where I slip into ‘the girl next door’ costume; a knee length skirt, V-Neck tee with a glimpse of cleavage, a sandy-blond pony-tail and ‘natural’ make up. 

            He’s a rugby league player. Josh O’Donnell’s file note reports that he’s “Not smart enough for the girls in his social circles”. His mug shot boasts oversized head, nose, ears and belly. Muttering “No problem too big or too small,” I stride towards the Interview room.

We wenches lived in the forest, farming herbs, fruit-trees and rodents. We chanted to the full moon in our nightslips. When our skills were required we crept through tradesman’s entrances to pull out stuck babies. As a Wiccan I had learned as much about life and death as a homeless person out of sight in a city lane. A nomadic craftsperson from a clan of misfits, I fled persecution aboard a fine tall ship from the Cornwall coast in 1885, as is the colonial way.

            Josh is doing the scary on me. He has wet goggle eyes that tell me he is in love with something. It’s not me. It’s his idea that Kylie and Cyndi Lauper are within reach. My skin can’t keep him out, though he’s never going to touch me. I play it cool; head tilted the side, and no eye contact. He asks all the typical questions and my reply is short and sharp. It’s my job to keep him out of reach and wanting.

“Do you like football?” He asks.

“No,” I reply, “I don’t like crowds.”

“I like quiet nights in front of the TV, what about you?” he asks.

“I have an eye disease,” I say.

“What do you like to do?” he asks.

“I make armless cardigans for land-mine victims and I go to a feminist reading group on weekends,” I say.

“I’m really sorry,” he says almost in tears, “You seem like a really nice girl.” I shrug my shoulders and slam the door behind me. I know I’ll see him again. Next time I’ll have short dark hair, glasses and the personality of a shushing library monitor. Again, we’ll have nothing in common. His $200 has bought him 3 introductions, so he can look forward to meeting another classy woman, and next time it might be a perfect match.

It’s six minutes past five and time to bolt. I slam Josh’s file into its pocket in the filing cabinet, turn the lock and start whistling Dixie. I put my dirty coffee cup into the top desk drawer and stand to leave. Malcolm appears from his office. He clears his throat and approaches me, earnest and tipsy. Freeze-frame. What is it this time? What could it be at 5:07 on a Friday? I stop. I turn. I smile.

“Mary-Ann. You’ve done a fab’ job this week. You’ve given meaning and hope to our more desperate customers. You’ve done me proud.” He clears his throat. “I haven’t done this before, but you’ve been here a year and the time has come.” He hands me a lousy fifty.

“Wow,” I say, staring at the cash and wondering what he wants me to do.

“It’s a bonus for a job well done. Have a great weekend.” He shakes my hand and retreats like a man who’s given enough away.

“Wow, fifty bucks,” I say again. Fifty dollars for being a cold bitch, whose only talent is delaying men’s inevitable disappointment. Oh the things I could spend it on – the shoes on lay-by, or a mediocre night out?

Life holds certain things in store for us – it’s written in tealeaves and on the palm of your hand. As I’m walking towards my tram stop the matrix opens. On the footpath, a banana peel, mangled and brown entraps me. My left foot finds it, slurping forward in slow motion. Right foot is out of step and slow to the rescue. Naturally my hand splays out in readiness for a broken arm.

In moments of panic time loses pace. In this instance on Elizabeth Street it halts completely. My shoulders tighten, pull together and lift me up. (There’s always stuff underneath; it bubbles up like sulfur in a mud bath. What’s under must come up). I levitate high enough for my feet to reconvene their partnership. Then I float back to the ground, and recall a dream.

I’m a witch riding a broomstick at 150 metres. I’m giggling like a kid in a three-legged race, butting shoulders with a friend who simulates burnouts and bucking motions on her hotted up model. We’re travelling in tandem to a party-plan for spells.

When I get home I notice signs that my aunt has barricaded herself in the music room again. Charcoal is smoking in the toaster. A bucket of water and a bottle of window cleaner sit by the vacuum cleaner. The curtains are gone, presumably soaking in bleach. Bottles of grout cleaner, Gumption and disinfectant are littered about. The sink is brimming with used rubber gloves.

I sit outside the music room. She’s talking to herself.

“It’s alright, I’m safe in here. Nothing can get in.” It is absolutely true. Nothing can ever get into the music room.  I haven’t yet figured out how she and fresh air get in. It’s a bubble-wrapped chamber. Six years ago she employed an expert to hermetically seal it, to prevent all life forms from entering, and most importantly the most discrete of microbes.

The room has been bare since my grandparents died thirty years or so ago. In photos of its heyday there are chandeliers, red brocade curtains, French chaise-lounges, and my grandfather smugly ensconced at the grand piano, conjuring a tune for a rigid audience.

“Are you comfortable in there, Auntie Carrie? Would you like to come out and have a cup of tea?” I sit there for an hour saying things like that, though I know she’ll be there as for as long as it takes.

I stand, thinking about witches, twitching for release. I grill a chop and go to bed.

Before sunrise I go to the market and hand the fifty bucks over to a psychic. She’s had a big Friday night – her eyes are puffy and the crystal ball is cloudy. “Mary-Ann”, she says rolling the r. “Mary-Ann, I can see some turbulence. It’s unfinished business and its rupturing the firmament between your lives.”

Something strange is happening. My fingernails feel dry and itchy and my eyeballs prickle and flicker.

My ex-boyfriend, Tony, phones me. “No Tony, I am not up for the occasional root!”

My boss asks if I’m still single and if I’d like to go to his swingers’ club.

I’m 28 with no prospects. I drive my aunt to mass on Sundays, and I’m not in the touching game.

Josh comes in for his third introduction. After this one my boss will suggest he try something different, “Josh, my friend,” he’ll say, “I don’t think we’ve got the match for you this time around. We’ve introduced every woman who shares your interests, and I’m surprised that none of them suit you. You can try us again in six months, but the fee will be higher.”

 For the final meeting I’m a prim schoolteacher. Midway through his first question Josh looks confused, hesitates and then continues. For an instant, he doesn’t look so stupid. Has he recognised me? What can see?

Sitting on the tram, after work, I realise that I’m lonely and agitated. I let the shuffling and bumping of the tram carry me into a meditation. I’m wrapped in a bubble of white light, weightless and air-borne, floating above the city. A flock of penguins fly pass in formation. It’s damp and cool up here. I have an urge to look down but a guiding voice says, “No, Mary-ann, look within”. I see nothing but white, moist fluffiness. I snap out of it, knowing that the tram is nearing my stop.

I awake in sweat, with no memory of the dream. I hear the North Melbourne town hall clock chime mid-night, and I instinctively rise and dress. I cloak myself, lace my doc martens, and slip quietly out the front door. 

I wander as if sleepwalking along Pin Oak Crescent, and soon find myself at the foot of a housing estate tower on Racecourse Road.  I see a cluster of people huddled in the children’s playground. I walk towards them. Now, I can hear them chanting. They’re gathered cross-legged between slides and swings. I take my place in the centre – my bum-cheeks comfortably nestled in the sand. They pass a terracotta mug from hand to hand, sniff its contents and continue to chant. I can’t see faces or body shapes but I know that there are women, children and men in this group. They’re all cloaked, as I am.

The chanting reverberates through my skull and I bow my head. My body churns. A scream forms in my throat, and I hear a voice pierce the night like a spear.

All is quiet.

I’m handed the clay vessel and cup it in both hands. I alternate sipping and inhaling the slippery fluid, savouring its potency. This life giving elixir, this antidote to my malaise – distilled banana – is as familiar to me as my own skin. The group closes in and releases my cloak and suddenly all hands are touching me. They whisper, “Relax Mary-Ann, let yourself go, open yourself up to the every present spirit.” They rub oil into my skin and I know I’m unpeeling, engorging, erupting.

I bow and give thanks to the gathering and according to custom I leave with haste and discretion.

Auntie Carrie has been gushing like a tapped spring ever since the resurgence of my gift, and today she’s skipping about the house sealing the last of the boxes and sweeping up the detritus of our former life. The removal van arrives. We climb into the EH Station-wagon and wind down the windows, saluting the ‘for sale’ sign that’s overshadowed by the old family home.   I’m humming like a bee.

            While driving, I mentally formulate the recipe for our first batch of Life Tincture – purified banana oil infused with honey essence. Like rap artists and their nursery rhymes I rehearse a spell and cackle with wry jubilation.

A bubble of excitement rises in my chest when the Big Banana comes into view. I prod Auntie Carrie on the shoulder, noticing the outline of evaporated dribble on the upholstery, and she awakes. “We’re here,” we say in unison. There’s the old building, the relics of a perfume distillery, soon to become Humming Bee Apothecary, our potion factory, (Aunt Carrie has insisted on cleaning products as a side business). Neighbours and passers-by – rainbow-patterned, north-coast hippies and nature lovers – have gathered to greet us.

We climb from the car and I throw open the bulging boot. We have a lot of unpacking to do and work to begin before the sun sets and the fun starts. Aunt Carrie proudly hands me her latest prototype for the cleaning ‘accessory’ range – a svelte spotted-gum handle with mungo bush broom, discretely fitted solar panels and a silent motor. I’m no longer a lost and lonely Girl Friday. I’m no longer the pied piper without a flute.

“Lives,” I say to Auntie Carrie, “are a many splendid and varied thing.”

If a tree stands in the forest

Otway ash

Erect mountain pole

Topped and cosied by

a crocheted limey hat.

A seemingly screaming rip from high

An eeling strip of bark headlong tail trailing

falls      …..    silence waits

It snags, now drapes

Otway tree is off the shoulder trimmed by a peasant shawl

Otway ash

Majestic mountain pole

Aquaduct rooted 

is to all seasons enthralled.

A puddled path twists past.

Fluoro scare-signs

alert humans to CATASTROPHE!

Snakes leap, stick figures trip off cliffs

and falling rocks smash heads

Otway pole

Tea cosied

Shawl wrapped

is home to Powerful Owls.

Archaic nature has made scenery

Shy mushrooms suckle

a lichen padded branch

Sneaky crevices surrender to a shifty shard of light.

These shoes leak

A fern frond shivers, drips

expires a mouldy sigh

Erect ash pole

is inured to time and reason

in a place where

person presence is pointlessly prosaic

The forest is still, unadorned

                        and no sounds exist but for ears.