Photography © Glenn Bowie

 

Grand Theft Auto

Want to know how it happened?
I’ll tell you how: a 3rd rail stoush
with a six-mule handicap, Hunky & Dory
sorting out their differences – who
nods when & if it’s a sin to grin
at the great man’s funeral. As expected
I say “Why not?” I say “It’s time (while we’re at it)
to sort the grannies, which die today & which
on Thursday next.” Are you motivated
to conjure up a regret? I’m only asking because
the riding in these parts has been a bit too roughshod
for my liking lately (No, I don’t share Teddy Roosevelt’s
enthusiasm for). When we got to that beach we saw
that he’d made a right royal spill & wasn’t prepared
to clean it up. Kinfolk curlicues & a making whoopie
scam – he left us no choice, we brought them to bear
& boy did he clean; you could have whistled
a dozen dogs home: sheer delight, let’s sit tight
& watch the clouds roll in; forty days
& forty nights & they’re still coming; maybe
we should finish carving that canoe; maybe
you could toss a few of those asylum pennies
our way; we’re about to get all gussied up
& make our way to Golgotha; me & Garibaldi
if we get there whole the plan is to play
the local hoi-polloi fast & loose, vamp
their plugs, spill their beans, with any luck
might even flog a few copies of my latest
The Petrochemical Songbook. “OK
everyone it’s time to sing along” – Gall
upon gall, 50 miles of RCA!

 

Originally from Detroit, Philip Hammial has been living in Australia since 1972. He has had 37 poetry collections published and has represented Australia at 14 international poetry festivals.

Glenn Bowie is a published poet, lyricist and photographer from the Boston area. He also owns and operates an elevator company that supplies custom-built elevators for clients from New England to Hollywood. Author of two poetry and photograph collections (Under the Weight of Whispers and Into the Thorns and Honey) on Big Table Publishing, he donates all profits from his books to various charities for the homeless and local animal shelters.