thegapshittycity

rmit. public art.
site analysis.
the gap. shitty city.

the gap.shitty city.melbourne

the gap every year that sound gets louder
I think it’s the city melbourne
it could be the whole country

that noise like a hum
angrier than that but not a growl
I think it’s the city like a hummmm
could be the whole country

as I stand cold jasmine in the morning
no bra on the backyard bricks
when I was little it was far away
the city but now that noise is near
a fence away steps and strokes in the footpath

every year that sound gets louder
I think it’s the city melbourne
maybe it’s the whole country

sad I want to be in the bush
when I was little it was far away
the whole country that noise
melbourne

something is missing
frail but not found
and not looked for and yet
here it is a gap a nameless gully

a wreck a city
noise a mess amuck
a sound and a smell

they pissed here too many times
the smell is a noise men or boys
would a woman do this
they pissed here
over and over

is there nowhere else to go
we are shipwrecked here
wrecked here in this nameless gully
nowhere in the city

they pissed here deep into the crevasse
they pissed here over and over
the smell is a noise in my chest
like a sentiment a memory
of a homeless man no choice
not even about the smell
a sentiment they pissed here

who

men and boys would a woman do this
nobody seems to care though here about piss
they pissed here
over and over

who

that smell is a noise in the earth
beneath the rubble and muck spewed down this lane
it is nowhere really down flinders alley

down in melbourne

nowhere really and yet
you’ll find it anywhere
that noise that smell
the smell is a noise
cars and trucks reversing
people noise

how old is the beer can
how long will it last the earth
grew spew here and holds it
deep in a nameless gully

a gap
in the city
something is missing and yet
they’ll never look for it here.

.june 2006.