The Magic Envelope
I have a magic envelope
in it I put
the Aurora bill
the Telstra bill
the Optus bill
the rates and taxes bill
and all those other pieces of paper
that come with those
little windows on the front
windows to fuckin' despair
its like having scales in the bathroom
who wants to know the worst truth
wait till the crisis
when you're in hospital
and they make you stand on the
machine that feels like concrete boots
in a heavy metal river
on the day after New Years eve
when everyone else
has had a home to go to
and oh yeah
in this magic envelope
I put all my used love letters
childhood birthday cards
letters I never sent
letters that've come back
and DSS requests
and then I go down the highway
and watch the cars go past
with their middle class exhaust
the ones that don't need
lead replacement petrol
and watch the zinc workers head in
for the shift change
and smile at the bagman
with his bike
and look at the pretty new gaming signs
over the Russell
and wonder at the number of people
willing to self serve their petrol
and I start to wish there was
Commonwealth employment programs again
and that sex education in schools worked
and that the statistics for Aussies
who agreed with hitting the wife
for not putting the meal on the
table had gone down
just a bit
and I start to think of the
refugees
and feel sorry for them
they wanna come here and live
the good life
we could fit a few in the
clear-felled forests
and I think of Ten Days on the Island
and wonder what happened to the other 342
and remember an art teacher saying
when these kids wake up one morning
and they've got nothing to get out of bed for
perhaps their art can give them a reason
and I dunno what to do with
this 'magic' envelope
it looks like years worth of guilt
like the reason I didn't go
to the 20th school reunion
and I remember this movie about
the dead letter office
write on a piece of paper
'I'm sorry'
seal the envelope
put the return address as loser
and post it to God
'cos like Father Xmas
he doesn't need a stamp.
