Famous Reporter # 29: June, 2004

Andrew Burke

Dorothy Dorothy Dorothy

                                          i.m. Dorothy Hewett

last rays of day long

I read x-rays of your heart

against the light I see

your children run across

its pumping muscle

 

currawongs call shadows to light

 

Merv mumbles behind the wheel

your hearse passes lorries on the hill

but you’re the navigator still

 

As you stop at each pitstop

you fall in love with the waiter

who sings & tells you dark-eyed lies

 

Merv’s tinkering with the motor

adding a little oil

more air to a back tyre

 

This hearse is a raised finger to Death

 

‘We see what you’ve been doing

taking more than your fair share

we’re on to you ...

 

You come knocking like smiling JWs -

Tell those who believe

your poppycock. Try next door -

 

they’re an unhappy bunch.’

A sardonic laugh follows Death

out the door ...

 

As he passes he

polishes the wing of

the hearse in the drive.