SUE MOSS
Fitzroy
- Fitzroy I hardly know
you
- Returning after how
many years
- Smith Street still
wanders
- Into Victoria Parade's
tree-lined shade
- Into Victoria Parade's
tree-lined shade
- Buildings of one-way
glass corrupt the space
- Between McDonalds &
St Peters on the hill
- Recollecting the early
seventies
- When Carlton was on the
make
- While the Brotherhood
St Vinnies & CAA jostled
- To provide a measure of
relief at home & abroad
- The drunks had never
heard of Liberation Theology
- Until Mother Therese
arrived with her Sisters
- The third world offered
comfort in Fitzroy
- The reversal left many
uncomfortable
- Her face Calcutte-ivory
- extended time
- In the tropics does
this to women
- Blue eyes her handshake
wise
- Or so I chose to
believe
- Friends bought Fitzroy
houses cheaply
- Pulled down the outdoor
dunnies
- Potted palms in
piss-dank courtyards
- Stripped bluestone
walls
- And installed skylight
above mezzanine floors
- Fitzroy saw the light
& prices escalated
- None of us could afford
to live there now
- 'La Mama' on the fringe
with Williamson
- Blundell & Gillies
at 'The Pram Factory'
- Our bums stiffened on
wooden benches
- As unaware we watched a
renaissance
- These days it's
readings at 'Lord Jims'
- Fitzroy still clings to
its derelict ways
- At least flagon port
was more honest
- Than wine in
chem-filled casks
- It's a long walk to
Ozanom House
- Vietnamese are
advancing from the east
- Dykes have moved to
Clifton Hill
- Over coffee &
Sambuca I reminisce
- And listen to Zydeco on
Smith Street
Sue Moss is a poet, performer and song-writer published in anthologies
and literary journals. She works as a part-time teacher and flower-grower and has lived in
Tasmania since 1974.