its summer in sydney just after christmas
i guess everyones gone away coz its real real quiet
yeah you can park anywhere
the people have all gone north n south
in little villages on days like this….what do they do…?
they play cricket on the beach
they drink beer and smoke
they sit in little deck chairs in the warm prehistoric darkness
some surfers “root” girls in the back of their vans
some take acid and sit around fires on remote beaches
they swim in the lagoons and they fish from the bridge
“no fishing allowed” but there they all are
they have a last swim in the motel pool before mum n dad go out
they eat toasted cheese n tomato sandwiches n chips
n a chocolate milk in the bandstand or grandstand or pagoda
they play euchre on card tables and eat crisps
they get the stuff ready for tomorrow
the holiday is drawing to an end
seems like it never would but there you go
we drive from albion park to oak flats
dad up front of course driving
uncle harry next to him
im in the back between aunty margaret n mum
aunty margaret nurses terry
mum nurses russell
uncle harry n dad smoke n smoke n smoke
dad smokes “filthy rothmans”
uncle harry smokes temple bar n 555
these seem exotic to me
dad always always smokes rothmans
uncle denis smokes viscount
sometimes denis smokes one of dads if he runs out
sometimes i see dad say ” give us a viscount , symonds!”
and he’ll smoke a viscount
i look at him n raise my eyebrows
he looks at the cigarette n shrugs
he is a confirmed rothmans man until they invent benson n hedges
then suddenly everyone starts smoking benson n hedges
do you suppose there really was a mr benson n mr hedges
its like lambert n butler isnt it?
two snobby names giving tobacco a fancy air
my dad only smoked british cigs
no sir he did not like american style cigs
my dad called cigs fags
all the english blokes did
long before the american meaning became known to us
one of our roadies jokes was
gotta fag for an old digger?
gotta a digger for an old fag?
ha ha ha well maybe you hadda bee there
anyway isnt shocking that i should be so well acquainted
with my dads nicotine habit
but we didnt know in those days it was so bad…did we …?
so we drive along us women children n babies
no seatbelts
as many as you like
a car full of fowl smoke
driving to oak flats
where theres a beach n a lagoon n pine trees
n fishnchips n maybe some kids from my school
yeah theres joy ballard
and theres john trevanion
and theres ian morris
and theres christine cameron
and theres colourful towels against the white sand
we didnt know sunburn was bad for ya neither
we’re all as red as beetroots
well
you can beat an egg but you cant beat a root
ha ha
dad and uncle harry have movie cameras
aunty margaret n mum dont like being filmed
go away les .!
my mother mouths silently on super 8
and she pulls an annoyed face
everyone looks so young young young
russell is like a white blur
his head is full of snowy white hair
dad films me
and i run around cross eyed n bucktoothed
flapping my arms like real stupid brat
suddenly i stop and i look into the camera
theres a flash and a bang
and we’re travelling across the waves
the lens is spotted with droplets of water
dad is trying to fish but he doesnt know what hes doing
hes got the perpetual rothmans in his mouth
as he reels in a big nothing
a lovely sunset has come down n we go over to visit some people
they serve food i cant eat n i run outside and explore
i brutally kill any bugs that i find
i squash em n crush em n hit em
i find some matches n i burn leaves n things
i pull out my plastic soldiers n i melt ones leg off
poor thing i think a battle injury
i stage a little war in the grass
people die heroic deaths in my little garden war
it gets dark i go inside
the grown ups are drinking beer n my dads playing piano
mum n dad drink only shandies..half beer n half lemonade
dad is in his element on the piano
but it bores me n even makes me a little angry to see him show off
i say some cheeky things eventually
and my mum promises me a good smacking when we get home
luckily they forget about it by the time we get home
into your own little beddybyes says mum n dad together
ouch i got more sunburnt
mum slaps on calamine lotion
you caught the sun son she says
the cold calamine lotion does actually soothe it
i lay in my room with my golden book encyclopedias
with my rubber knife and my cap gun and my drawers
with my school uniform n my good clothes
its raining outside softly
so softly
i fall asleep
to a gentle drip drip drip
drip
drip
drip