You don’t need to try again, doctor, really
I honestly can’t remember – What am I?
Address? Where do I live? Hold on –
Ah! I seem to recall, I live in
those clothes, my son’s clothes, other people’s
sons’ clothes. There are a lot, I always wash them
Hold on a minute please, my son’s crying, ah!
This boy, since he was four, his father
has been tracking his progress from a portrait on the wall
these clothes, I live in them, but
then the fire came and drove us out. Ah, no—
That’s not right. I live behind, right, yes,
and they live in front. I don’t dare to go there because
that woman will strangle me—with her eyes
she’ll choke me with a silk band. Her voice, building up
cold, a wall, keeping us apart, me and
my son. But those flames are coming
they’re so unreasonable. My neighbour walks
shouting for me to run. Doctor, please come quickly
help me get something, that suitcase, that
kettle, yes, that one. And here,
this pot, hurry up, Doctor, it’s too late.
The fire was set by the homeowner, I’m sure of it
I’ve owed him rent for so long, it must end, all of it
all the begging, my landlord believes so,
I want to hug my son, he’s crying, but
oh! I’m mistaken, that’s not
my son, he’s not tall enough, sh!
He wants to help me dry the clothes, Doctor
but, I wash the bucket of clothes, and I turn around
and he’s taller than me. He hangs his clothes
saying he can fly. Clamp, and that piece
it flies, and you have to compensate. But I don’t
see how he flies. He just walked in
that door, the one made of glass, and then
gave me a whole load of hope. Uncle
look again, what is he saying now, can I trouble you
I don’t know how to read, Uncle, ah, no, Doctor. Please
don’t ask me again, I can’t quite remember, it’s too vague
the door was so thick and the aircon so cold. He walked over,
he finally came home, I know. Because that woman
isn’t coming home, her skin is too sensitive
in my room, there’s bacteria
my granddaughters said so. They’re adorable, my son’s
daughters. They never once let me touch them,
their clean little hands. So I know, Doctor
he finally came back. My son, it’s him.
My relatives and neighbours said he’s here
their eager eyes pry him out. It’s really him.
Him, and he brought a gift too, a foreign brand
– my daughter-in-law and my granddaughters. It’s so cold
the aircon. Thank you, Doctor, that’s much better
if you were just my son. If I just
had a son, that would be good. But I don’t have
an address. Where do I live? Someone’s knocking
Doctor, why don’t you open the door? Someone’s there
I heard it, it must be him, he’s finally back
since he was small, he was always so sensible, my son
he came over and handed me the dry clothes
came over and gave me hope to hold in my arms
now, Doctor, look, he’s coming over
he said, he said she said, the house is too small, next weekend
they want to take me there, where it’s so warm, that
old folks’ home. But, Doctor, no
that’s not my home. They made a mistake. But
they’ll come and chase me, like that fire, so
I went to look for my son, he was gone
then, I forgot where I live.
What am I? Let me think, hey,
I remember my name. My name is
garbage, yes, garbage, useless. I heard
my name, floating, from those gentle, sweet
lips. I remember, I remember who I am, but
really, I can’t remember anything at all, Doctor.
- 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