i : nicholson street
(poetry idol version)

and this is where we have our lunch
and this is where we ride our bikes
and if you've got fat legs you can run here
and try to make them thinner

and this is where we read our books
and this is where we sit and think
and there is where you live if you are poor

and this is where we walk along
and sing and spread our arms
as if we want to fly and we would if we could

and this is where we rest our bags
and this is where we put our foot
and if we're feeling brave we'll dye our hair
a different colour on each side and all

and brazilian butterfly means
you've got no hair
and that you didn't want it there

and this is where the children play
and now i'm sick or my finger hurts
and my father comes to pick me up

and this is where
the east brunswick budgie association
has a sign
pointing to where it is
or used to be

and now i'm going back
and back and back
and now it stops being back

and it's just there
and this is where i'm going
it is here and there and here and here

and there is curly joe's
he claims that he can have
your pizza ready in just one minute
how can that be?

i should really go and try it out
and wait ten minutes
and then when i complain
joe will say : the zero must have fallen off
and how could i have been that naive?

and this is where we dig a hole
and this is where we have a smoke
and this is where we keep the sad relics
of a time gone by
when there was hope

when it was not that things were good
but it was what they thought
and they also thought
everything would get better
as it always had
and also easier
it has to
does it not?

but then a time came
when everything got worse
it was surprising how quick
but no one should have been surprised
the signs were there
not that there was much
they could have done
even if they had been paying attention.

(ii) on the 96 tram

i’m so sad now she writes
in an oversize exercise book
on a page with today’s date

i am consumed by rage :
the hollow laughter
the numerous goings to and fro
the useless standing around in the streets
the endless streams of words and gestures
the dressing up
the rummaging in bags
the application of hair products
a lunch time wax
the breaking open of roads
the demolition of houses
the growing of grass
smoking
queues
slurping and sucking of sugary liquids through straws
clutching greasy paper bags
useless pockets on pants
unnecessary straps and stitching
rows of idling taxis
random facial hair
random text on clothes
flip-flops
smells
stripes
handheld video games

& if anyone can think of anything
stupider than skate boarding
please tell me : i’d like to know about it

(sometimes going to where people are
works as an antidote &
sometimes it doesn’t)

(iii) mr.stinky goes to town
(coming soon)