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
dead set?!
ReplyDeleteThe sign is really there, dead set! Dead cert!
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ReplyDelete
DeleteAh 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
Apparently the sites
Deleteare recycled heritage listed
now there's a way to go
Deletewait for the end of days
the dead be walking around
just like me