Friday, December 8, 2017

James Walton #85 Old joke in a sunny spot, yesterday




At the corner of Princes
and Cemetery Parade East
where Lygon Street leaves the shops
and tries to become a suburb
a billboard hangs off the iron balustrades
announcing Exclusive Grave Sites
Going Fast Enquire Now

(you might have to slow to see it)

it’s one of those days
when the sun is as gentle
as lips on your forehead
and I have to laugh out loud
here as the mad traffic hurtles by
the bus horn detonates a moment
just enough to save a jay walker

(at the sign, not the jay walker)

whose earphones want to make that call
the fates almost colliding in pathos
an Ethiopian guy from the estate
hanging on amidst the private developments
smiles at me a rueful headshake
and I shouldn’t (I know)  but it happened
Yeah, they’re dying to get in there




6 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. The sign is really there, dead set! Dead cert!

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  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. Ah James
      sure I won't ever
      get out of here alive
      but thank you
      for the reminder
      I spoke to my class
      about wildlife and trees
      suddenly butterflies arrived
      it seemed a hoax
      in charge of a tea cup
      the signs are already there
      I refer to our immortality
      without advertising
      and this other mortality
      try not to drop it

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    2. Apparently the sites
      are recycled heritage listed
      now there's a way to go

      Delete

    3. wait for the end of days
      the dead be walking around
      just like me

      Delete

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