Manus

 

We are the least of men

Iranians, Afghanis, Sudanese

Stuck on Manus forever

Outside the camp the locals will attack us

Cutting us down like dogs

They hack us with machetes

Inside the camp we die in our souls

Of neglect

Of disease

Of madness

In tropical heat

We cry out to your conscience

For you to set us free

For we are losing hope

And feeling dead inside

We are punished for coming on a boat

When Australia was built by people arriving by boat

We are a national staining shame

For if you do this to us now

Who will be next?

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Dark Secret Love

I had a dark secret love
Like a mull-plant hidden in the roof
Sapping my energy
I was always afraid
That the pigs would come and take my dark secret love away

I had a dark secret love
Like a case of genital warts
Irritating me constantly
So itchy, so itchy
Firing my paranoia and shame
And sending me to pharmaceuticals

I had a dark secret love
Of someone who didn’t love me
And it was a totally pointless exercise
In magnifying my suffering
And turbo-charging my loneliness

The Mask and Myth

The mask and myth of the man contain magic
As the old man fades and consciousness burns
The mask and myth of the man contain magic
No ghost within- no homunculus pulling levers

The mask is impervious to sanity and shame
Embraces drunken hours and stolen kisses
With wild red-lipped wanton women in seedy bars and clubs
The mark of the man is the power of myth

The myth of the man leaves the old man lost inside
Alone and hollow like a broken bulb
The old man rots, the old man dies
While myth and mask grow stronger outside

The mask and myth of the man contain magic
The myth is debauchery, decadence and power
Wine and wild women and punk rock enthusiasm
The mask and myth of the man contain madness

So long worn the mask cannot be moved
The mask and myth of the man contain madness
The man now the mask has nothing inside
Personality blended with extravagant creation
The myth and the man have nothing to hide