a tidy laugh
a woman in a café
by a beach
near an empty warehouse where i sleep
in a narrow lane
behind a five star hotel
asks me
are
you on holidays
i’m here for a
couple of months
so
what is your work
i write poems and
plays
perform when i get
a gig
she spits out a tidy laugh
that bangs me in my gut
so
you don’t work at all
same laugh
i do
i’m working now
here
i pick up my pen
begin writing a poem
about a woman
who laughed at my work
she stands to leave
gives me a look
goes by where i sit
writing about her
goodbye
no reply
only a tidy laugh
ok
she keeps walking towards the five star
place
past my warehouse squat
i buy another long black
on credit
thankyou
i think i can pay
tomorrow
get back to my work
my poem
my life
my fear
Stephen House is an award winning Australian playwright, poet and actor. He’s won two Awgie Awards (Australian Writer’s Guild) , Adelaide Fringe Award, Rhonda Jancovich Poetry Award for Social Justice, Goolwa Poetry Cup, Feast Short Story Prize and more. He’s been shortlisted for Lane Cove Literary Award, Overland’s Fair Australia Fiction Prize, Patrick White Playwright and Queensland Premier Drama Awards, Greenroom best actor Award and more. He’s received Australia Council literature residencies to Ireland and Canada, and an India Asialink. His chapbook “real and unreal” was published by ICOE Press Australia. He is published often and performs his work widely.
No comments:
Post a Comment