Flat grey sheet of water right from the port to St. K this morning, cutting the eyeball like the editor from the States wanted his prose submissions, the guy who was later attacked for sexual offences, using his position for favours it might have been.
Earlier the Anglophile Johnnie Good had sourced more material again for his arsenal in a report on a young Nigerian artist’s charcoal portrait of a grinning, grandmotherly Queen Lizzy. The world over worshiped the English, London in particular; the royals & the fabled civilisation they stood for; &etc. &etc. Failing fifty years ago to find himself a place in that sun over there had never been overcome for JG. Condemned instead to the wasteland of Oz with its unforgiving sun, the superficially pretty waterfront hometown of Williamstown in his case.
With the new15km allowance the circuit was extended to Altona now, more wide seascape garnered, a little fetching along the native grassed segments that cast the city towers further back on the other side of the bay. The old Dalmatian’s villa carrying the mounted life-buoy a few doors off Miller’s corner. Dugi Otok the man hailed from, proudly inscribed on the old, weathered item hung beside his balcony—Croatia’s own Long Island.
Plenty of airborne salt and wide vistas sucked up along the ride, when the mind had narrowed so badly during the record-breaking lockdown. A seat in the park could be taken by the Morton Bay Fig and the old homestead where glass-eyed Brett was born. Living without a phone or computer, there was only the possibility of a chance encounter with Brett on the street.
The exercises on the mat too were more important than ordinarily; particularly prized those endorphins now. Brett had suggested a couple of new ones at the last meeting.
A new perch too on Carlisle Street beside a cafe counter offered the passing parade: shapely women in athletic tights, cute canines (another toy poodle after the first was sighted in Footscray) and the local street people, who received better than average consideration in that particular locale.
The Jewish Las Chicas offered a soft wooden bench recessed into the building immediately abutting the pavement and looking down the street beside hipster Wall. The railway station adjacent funnelled more humanity again, a number of regular commuters reappearing. One shy old Serb who caught a train there early afternoon came equipped with some kind of device that blared old familiar folk songs. Late mornings a cheeky Peloponnesos tried his native tongue on all comers, the vulgar lexicon mainly once he had established some rapport. A number of passersby saluted the fellow with yiasous and ti kanis?
Chicas stood in place of the old German sandwich shop that had been located just a few metres off thirty years ago, the only café along the strip then.
An alarming 1,400+ new cases reported that had been boosted by the illegal football gatherings—another record-breaker with the Delta strain. A couple of days after the final that event alone delivered 500 fresh infections. For the politicians it was difficult hammering an iconic marker like that, the allure of the biggest game on the calendar simply undeniable. Over in Perth there had been a number of arrests of Victorians crossing illegally to attend.
How far the erotic had been suppressed over the globe through the period an older man could not judge. Occasionally beneath the masks some flickered wincing was apparent. Without input from any side, the past rushed in even more than usual and almost completely overtook.
Dress-ups and office smart were much less in evidence, the simpler attire delivering a kind of relaxed, democratic spirit. Women must have been feeling the denial of male admiration, even with the terrible attacks and murders in so many corners across the globe. The cop in London and his beautifully fresh-faced young victim played again and again in the media.
Shaggy-haired Greg turned up regularly at the Chicas bench in his old wino guise of late, trying his shtick with the passersby. Only the once was he told to FFF off by a gay gal he had rubbed up the wrong way with his rattle. Mostly his good-natured banter was accepted and well received. The last week he had begun to synchronise meetings with calls, though sometimes he simply popped up out of the blue. Even he had finally been prompted for the jab against the Canova, as he continued to call it. Mornings when he was talked into his other jab by Danny or Mick he absented himself.
Melbourne, Australia
October 2021
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