they came by bus,
foot, and taxi,
by pram; the celebrators
happily
in blue sky, oven
-baked caucasians
in sunshine.
a little girl
squatting flat-footed
on the street
outside my apartment
lifts her skirt
pulls her underpants
aside and pisses
on the footpath
before entering
the chapel
while the bells tincture
lingers and fades like
the urine
dissolves on the hot
footpath.
when I finally locate
the flat keys and exit
with towel, barefooted
on to the hot concrete
church is finishing
and the children
who have had their swimming
costumes underneath
are making the four
block walk to the beach.
cigarettes are cheap
and I have cash
-work, a slowed-
frozen glass lozenge
of white spirits
in my shoulder bag,
and a pipe, & half a dozen
hits left, and the plan
to rehearse the audition
monologues
has again
been abandoned
so that now
I know
a particular future
cannot possibly
hold
the spot open,
not anymore.
I couldn’t’ve held
my breath long
enough anyway
to feel
anything future
dissolve. and I didn’t care,
wouldn’t, for years,
the beach is pumping
wave crash
is making cool breeze
and sand-sink
to ankles
is enough for many
in their Bondi bikinis:
bottoms only.
their tan-lined feet
their maculate behinds
crusted with sand.
love this too.
great closing image, and what a perfect word in this context – “maculate” .
cheers, mark…“maculate” was by accident, thought I was shortening immaculate, only to find it was ready to use in its own grammatical accuracy.
so did i! and that would have worked too, but this is even better
Thank you, Emjay
Love this. Thanks for sharing. Vivid. A future possibility let go … dissolving.