he has a focus
an interest he follows
a quarrelsome curiosity
without a job description
no career pathway
changeable direction but
unclear reasoning by the privileged
has placed them in his sights
their birth right, an unjustifiable advantage
and he wants to bring them down
scoffs at their life permit
because drudgery is his hump/humour
schooled on disadvantage with daily reinforcement
shop floor brutality and poor monetary reward (at best)
the Australian dream – unobtainable
and the divide grows as he breathes
he has friends/acquaintances/co-conspirators
whose lives are filled with animosity
longing primarily for that level playing field
where heritage does not apply
and thoughts/ideas are considered/debated/adopted
from free agents
not just a single vote dealt unfairly
because he wants parity
this is his dream, down in the bilge/the hole/the fundament/the pit
the centrality/the essence of his life’s direction/desires/vision

as his is an increasingly unacknowledged voice

desperation stakes -
breakout politics or break-in criminality

First published by Friendly Street Poets in ‘New Poets 19’ edited by
Edie Eicas in 2018. With a nod to Alan Morrison editor ‘Militant Thistles’ (UK)