this would have to be Footscray
where else to find the Melbourne Chinese Bible Church
but on Barkly Street
a launderette
an empty ex-Vietnamese eatery
and a combination flower shop and coffee parlour
of deep blue looks that might have been transplanted
from a place altogether more salubrious
as suggested by the decorative lounge setting
and specimens of local intelligentsia
absorbed in gazette gossip
surrounded as they sit by bouquets in tin buckets
and the smell of incense burning so strong
that interloper I
am driven out onto the street
like an ill-tolerated and poorly reconstructed gauche
to sit at varnished plywood on the footpath
atop a lumpen sixties-vinyl kitchen chair
forced to a straight back like a child at a school desk
there are identical parasols visible through the window
seen behind a reflection off the glass frontage
they seem pretty delicacies
perhaps Chinese
but more likely the Footscray Market on Saturday
my table boasts an electroplated teapot
anchored safely in the embrace of an unused ashtray
it is a lushness this pouring device
succulents reach from the spout
and protrude from beneath the lid
a small touch of florist on the footpath
lest one forget there is more than a single purpose here
Margharita’s next door is closed
the hanging sign dates back to my childhood
she sold children’s wear and gifts
once
© Frank Prem, 2002
210318
Good words, Frank. A lot of good images here that take me there.
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Thanks Michael. I used to have a lot of meetings out and about, and I’d spend time beforehand or after having a coffee and writing the surroundings. A few snapshots that way.
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Great investment of time.
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I am transported this morning. Thanks for the travel!
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Welcome to Barkly Street, Footscray. Traditionally one of the more multi-cultural areas of Melbourne. Glad you enjoyed.
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