And, after all this time my heart still f l u t t e r s
when a queer person walks through those automatic doors.As if femmes don’t need fuel
or diesel dykes don’t chain smoke twin packs of B&H
or the gender-bent darling from Railway Street could head
to The Gateway without a canister of gum.///
A couple of hairy bears sashay their way through salty snacks
before heading to the BJs fridge for fulfilment.
The top locks arms with his better half, scanning the room.
He clocks me, smiles and reverts his attention back to the cabinet of curiosities.
Foreplay? With a spectator?One of my regulars has just pulled up on her beat-up, blue BMX.
Sent her girlfriend Kellie up to Kempsey.
You know for prosperity?
Some shifts, I wonder how long she’ll be in rehab forwhether Kay will keep her Hamo South-door wide open for when she gets out.
Variant people doing a variety of things
unmasked in public
open,
aware
& others not.Others?
High as fucking kites buying cherry pie
stuffing sugar sachets down their pants when they think my back’s turned.I’m here watching them
one-by-one
go about their
day-to-day.The voyeur in me is aroused and yet the conversations
I’m involved in surely aren’t mine to have.In comes Jimmy.
Gets a kick when I call him ‘Keef’
locked hair adorned with coins and twine.
He shows me his latest creation, a necklace featuring“a blackfella on a crucifix”.
Jimmy has always called me brotherboy
catching himself on occasions when he slips up and spits, ‘sis.’
One of those fellas who knows your story before you unhinge your trap.He tells me of his dreaming:
of his mob back out Mooree way
of his tumultuous love affair with the pipe
of how he wishes he had his culture to help cut the noose.His stories draw me in
tied to the prison inkings on his forearm.
His personal style is unearthly.
Some nights I swear, if he wasn’t koori
he would be on the cover of Vogue,
distressed denim and leather.If he had a phone, Jimmy would have a couple of thousand likes on his OTDs.
Instead, he is here entertaining me,
scratching up cigarette change.
Whenever he is short I cover.///
The outline of two figures appear on the security screen
distorted by the damaged wing of a lost bogong .
I watch the women dart across the car park from the hotel next door
clad in robes,
concealing their bodies like weapons.
Lowering my eyes
I exchange goods
green note,
no bag,
no receipt.
- 115: SPACE
with A Sometimes
114: NO THEME 13
with J Toledo & C Tse
113: INVISIBLE WALLS
with A Walker & D Disney
112: TREAT
with T Dearborn
111: BABY
with S Deo & L Ferney
110: POP!
with Z Frost & B Jessen
109: NO THEME 12
with C Maling & N Rhook
108: DEDICATION
with L Patterson & L Garcia-Dolnik
107: LIMINAL
with B Li
106: OPEN
with C Lowe & J Langdon
105: NO THEME 11
with E Grills & E Stewart
104: KIN
with E Shiosaki
103: AMBLE
with E Gomez and S Gory
102: GAME
with R Green and J Maxwell
101: NO THEME 10
with J Kinsella and J Leanne
100: BROWNFACE
with W S Dunn
99: SINGAPORE
with J Ip and A Pang
97 & 98: PROPAGANDA
with M Breeze and S Groth
96: NO THEME IX
with M Gill and J Thayil
95: EARTH
with M Takolander
94: BAYT
with Z Hashem Beck
93: PEACH
with L Van, G Mouratidis, L Toong
92: NO THEME VIII
with C Gaskin
91: MONSTER
with N Curnow
90: AFRICAN DIASPORA
with S Umar
89: DOMESTIC
with N Harkin
88: TRANSQUEER
with S Barnes and Q Eades
87: DIFFICULT
with O Schwartz & H Isemonger
86: NO THEME VII
with L Gorton
85: PHILIPPINES
with Mookie L and S Lua
84: SUBURBIA
with L Brown and N O'Reilly
83: MATHEMATICS
with F Hile
82: LAND
with J Stuart and J Gibian
81: NEW CARIBBEAN
with V Lucien
80: NO THEME VI
with J Beveridge
57.1: EKPHRASTIC
with C Atherton and P Hetherington
57: CONFESSION
with K Glastonbury
56: EXPLODE
with D Disney
55.1: DALIT / INDIGENOUS
with M Chakraborty and K MacCarter
55: FUTURE MACHINES
with Bella Li
54: NO THEME V
with F Wright and O Sakr
53.0: THE END
with P Brown
52.0: TOIL
with C Jenkins
51.1: UMAMI
with L Davies and Lifted Brow
51.0: TRANSTASMAN
with B Cassidy
50.0: NO THEME IV
with J Tranter
49.1: A BRITISH / IRISH
with M Hall and S Seita
49.0: OBSOLETE
with T Ryan
48.1: CANADA
with K MacCarter and S Rhodes
48.0: CONSTRAINT
with C Wakeling
47.0: COLLABORATION
with L Armand and H Lambert
46.1: MELBOURNE
with M Farrell
46.0: NO THEME III
with F Plunkett
45.0: SILENCE
with J Owen
44.0: GONDWANALAND
with D Motion
43.1: PUMPKIN
with K MacCarter
43.0: MASQUE
with A Vickery
42.0: NO THEME II
with G Ryan
41.1: RATBAGGERY
with D Hose
41.0: TRANSPACIFIC
with J Rowe and M Nardone
40.1: INDONESIA
with K MacCarter
40.0: INTERLOCUTOR
with L Hart
39.1: GIBBERBIRD
with S Gory
39.0: JACKPOT!
with S Wagan Watson
38.0: SYDNEY
with A Lorange
37.1: NEBRASKA
with S Whalen
37.0: NO THEME!
with A Wearne
36.0: ELECTRONICA
with J Jones