Guide to Sydney Crime by Les Wicks - HTML preview

Les Wicks

Her Light Fruit Cake{1}

Service is love dressed in work clothes.

— eastern suburbs Anglican church billboard.

Tracksuit, no make up

a gold wedding band snapped around a nail-bitten finger

I marvel as she swings up a solid arm towards

cordial on the top shelf at Go-Lo.

She's no part

of a new feminism, dabbles

as well as doubles

triples & more so many

little roles that

just about makes one, her

aim is for completion exactly like

in the 50’s where the mother cooked

for family neighbours relatives

& family neighbours relatives until

occasionally she dropped in

a snippet of Thall-rat

& someone sickened.

Not even death the sometime goal, maybe

respite via husband’s illness or a bald patch

on a wife-beater’s head as she COOKED.

His till it's hers/

hymns to the hearse.

Either young, dark as new paling fence or

the worn-patch version of same.

Mrs Grills, den mother of the neighbourhood

or Mrs Monty poisoning her lover/son-in law we

take any woman for granted at some peril.

A rough goddess' hand flips pages

of the washed-tone Women's Weekly.

At six fifteen each man clutches his beer

& stares at this night's dangerous plate.