its already 2010
i got a friend called ricky
and one called donald
and one called nelg
and one called trevor who is also church lighting man
i live in bondi north bondi if you like
my friends come to my house
we and the fambley plus
amble off to the beach for a swim
we get there
the beach is closed because of
a) electric storm
b) jellyfish
c) tsunami
d) big sharky
e) all of the above
can you imagine
a lightning bolt strikes
a sharky bites
a jellyfish stings
the tsunami drowns
all at one time
we eat mexican n it starts to rain
cant pull a trick
do yoga this morning in the hot sun
i drift off into reveries of lives
i remember faces dimly in the interior mists
i remember nineveh
i remember albion
i remember rome
i was a slave boy
captured from somewhere else
i must have been a slave there
where i was before because i didnt mind being a slave here
we were outside of rome now
i worked in the vineyards of our owners whom we rarely saw
one day our mistress turned up in our midst unexpectedly
she looked rich with her jewelry and her robes
rumours swirled around the place about her
she had been sent home from rome
for misbehaviour nonetheless
she was suntanned and deliberate
as she made her way up the treelined avenues
of her splendid country home
they said she worshipped egyptian gods
they said she was a priestess of astarte
they said she had had an affair with some emperor
they said her husbands had been powerful men
they said she owned a house in africa
one day i was surprised to be called into her presence
what did she want with me?
would i be ever be a freed man?
would i be poisoned or promoted?
would i be flayed or fucked or fired?
it was with some trepidation therefore
that i approached her villa…..