This weekend I organised the second annual “Strathbogie has SPOKEN” event. We had 22 presenters and an audience of 50-60. This number pretty well filled our small, and acoustically delightful venue, St Andrew’s Church in Main Street. It was a seamless and fascinatingly diverse set of orations that made the two hours fly by. I kicked things off with a shortened version of the political piece below, which I wrote last year. It felt good to give written work air!
you know where I’m going with this
to the crush of high density and population growth
my oath
you and me both
with the new city millions that come
to the bustle and hum
to the high tensile strums
of the energy guns
at our heads
pay the bills or family fed?
that is the question we dread
as executive bonuses build mansions and poseurs
as the export of gas ups the home prices real fast
and don’t talk to me about electricity duplicity
so mean to me
these corporate utilities
fat cats
and multinats
squeeze me til I’m dry
then have another try
so my life is a scythe
cut the stress with a knife
kiss goodbye to the wife
and the kids and the love that I loved
for love’s sake
it’s a home bake
you know where I’m going with this
to parliament house
the joint of no nouse
of no brain
of no gain
where celebrity reigns
where the state of the nation equates with fashion
our political ration gets smaller and smaller
as narcissism, self-interest and recidivism ism their way to the fore
we want more
no!
they want more
no yore
just more
for the future is now a cash cow to be milked at the fence
of public expense
as the full and the fat suck at the teat
for the treat
of squeezed taxpayers sweet forming rivers of milk
and honey
or is it money?
pouring forth from a new scam
that’s rude
derived from ineptitude
it may be batts
it may be courses
they may be entrepreneurs
but they’re on the horses
bolted
after the gates have closed
you know where I’m going with this
to the US beholden
superpower
olden
folding the flag
turning for home
in the gloaming of their watch
withdrawing notch by notch
uncertain where the crotch of the matter lies
or whether their power even applies
exerting pressure as trade plies
but no so sure regarding human rights
and the rise
of the stateless states
the unreliable mates
the dates that became rapes
where the bright promising spring
quickly winged
to a cold dark winter
on the sling of David
and the Saudi flings
the belated failings
where democracy no longer sings
you know where I’m going with this
away from paradise lost
from the costs
from the Fausts
from the oppressive hosts
from the submerging coasts
to the ghosts of the past
rewritten to last
where my heart listens for hope in the sparks of principles sublime
not bereft
but to the time I have left in the cleft between life and death
in hope of nurture
in the sweet natural wealth of transparency ….. before stealth
you know
you know
you know where I’m going with this
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When a crimson flash drives my way
Grading (using the Parks Vic Track and Trail Grading Manual)
Grading (using the Parks Vic Track and Trail Grading Manual):
Various grey leads and charcoal. With thanks and apologies to Victor Brauner.
Extends from Noyes Lane, Ruffy.
Pencil on ceramic tile.
There is a Redback living in the didgeridoo. Lucky I noticed it tonight, sitting in its web just outside the mouthpiece. It nimbly disappeared inside as soon as I took the photo. The didgeridoo rarely gets used, but occasionally someone wants to give it a try. Could have been nasty! I will try to catch it and put it outside.