“How is your English?”
Maria kneels on the floor
elbow-deep in an ice chest
white collared shirt, black vest
she glances up
to let me know it’s me
she’s talking to
Andre stands next to Maria
arranging champagne flutesI say “My English is fine.”
Maria sighs, hands me a tray
says “you serve food tonight,
Andre and I do drinks.”big house at a Northwood address
Roman columns out front, triple garage below,
pool out back, koi pond as you walk through
the front gate
close to the bay, so I try to
picture the view from the
upstairs balcony
the hostess, Mimi,
is a tall, thin, dark-haired woman
the skin ‘round her eyes and mouth
plumped and pulled taut
by surgery. Difficult to say
if she’s in her 40s, 50s or 60sher husband Gus
is an investment banker
every year, around Christmas
he throws a little get-together
for his clients. I thought it polite to tell her
she has a lovely house
Mimi cocks her head
wide unfeeling eyes
looking right through me
hollow voice
cadent with pity and curiosity
she answers “I do, don’t I?”
I smile and continue to move
empty wine boxes out of the living roomsent downstairs to the garage
where the caterers had set up
Tom wore glasses, hair cropped close to his head
has the kind of smile which makes me forget
I have a boyfriend waiting for me at homeNate was the chattier of the two
asks me what high school I went to
“Macquarie Fields High”
“Is that Campbelltown way?”
“That’s right.”
“We drove through once on the way to a job. Picked up
fuel where there’s a KFC next to a Maccas.”
tell’em they’d found the hottest spot in Mac Fields
Tom laughs, makes me blush
wasn’t even joking. Anyone from Mac Fields
would tell you it’s the truth
- 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