The Australian

  

The Australian

 

 

I met the Australian man with the Russian wife again.

Neither looked too pleased to see me

almost straight away he asked me what I did.

I have been waiting a long time for someone to ask I said

and I was tempted to say I am retarded

and when they ask again

I would say retired.

His wife said he was off to oz for good in October,

he said it was because of his mum.

He asked me about my family

I told him my mother was dead but I couldn't tell him how long ago.

He asked me what age she was when she died

and I had to look around the room until I could make up some excuses

Then in the end, I said, in fact you are right I was a terrible son.

He invited me to Australia after that must have felt a bit sorry for

The thought stayed with me all night, as others spent the night trying to kill me.

 

Marc Carver