Pay me!!!

silver

echnida claws

queen still fugly in 2001

mum made sure

I got 3 milk bottles

on Thursdays for 15c

before our canteen

went all hippie

only selling

apple slinkies

and dried banana

gold

the kinda agro hairy chested plump faced man down the road

went bust,

replaced by a new

more gentle fam

whose kids grew up

like me

at that takeaway

on the other side

of the hot glass

three bucks

= enough chips

for my whole world

purple

whale eating a dick

if you know

u know

crumpled split

sticky tape mended

a half foot

Subway

multigrain

veggie patty

tomato sauce

extra olives

on cold Uni days

til they started

charging an

extra 50c

so I

never

went

back

blue

working at blockbuster

$10/hr felt huge

at thirteen

my bestie

round the corner

at pizza hut

she’d come

lean over the counter

chatting on break

customers losing their cool

DVDs collecting dust

quit after three years

boss

still

didn’t

know

my

name

red

min wage is a blessing in hospo

saw a list once

of places that pay

a short list

indeed

sweating cut burnt

harassed hung over

unslept

hot

sore

awkward

“just behind!!!!!”

hospo sucks

drilled me

to believe

1hr of my life

= $16

first night in a strip club

making

“just”

a twenny

in those few mins

on stage

realising

this is just

exchange

my value

is infinite

yellow

had good laughs in mums car

faded yellow

“the wee car”

cos it smelt rot

from damp

Ford Falcon

block sedan

recommended by cousin Andrew

(he’s into cars)

bought third hand

got us places for sure

Dickson

Belco

Woden

Tuggeranong

Goulburn

Parramatta

Ballina

Brunswick

mum would blast the radio

windows down

drive slow

bought a disco ball

fancy seat covers

from Supercheap Auto

(much much more)

the wee car took years to die

had to have breaks every halfa

max speed 80km/hr

then 60

dad said

be grateful for heating

he knew from

long cold drives

old yellow beauty

you were worth more

than fifty bucks

for scrap

green

was meant to go to Tassie in 2015

I miss my friend Rosie B

every summer

working

the long trails

carrying big loads

for rich people

come autumn

legs dense

as metal

a ritual –

every year I say I’m coming

every year I don’t

but 2015

was the closest

booked flights

everything

moving house next week though

needed a new fridge

funny

I missed

Rosie B

for a fridge

took a bus to Sydney

dropped past

Bras N Things

and Big W

spent 72 hrs

in a broth

my eyes hurt after

from the fresh sun

but I will never forget

the crisp green notes

of that weekend

suddenly

the crushing weight

of money

left me

I could almost

float a w a y

like a balloon

all the way

over the Tasman

to see and hold

my friend