Plagued by bitter memories
Of a dozen failed tries
Chasing new and old good ones
I wondered where salvation lies
Down the Paris end of Collins?
Or in a state-run museum?
At an out-of-the-way café?
Or on St Kilda Pier?
I'll tell you where it wasn't:
The eyes of a young flame
Golden, like treacle or honey
Which I got stuck in all the same
My heart fluttered and shivered
I could not keep still
And so, like an idiot
I let my feelings spill
She rejected me roundly;
A foregone conclusion
But it twisted up my insides
Being pulled from the illusion
So I created another
This time, unkind
A never-ending forest
Inside of my mind
With a little imagination
And the stroke of a pen
I was surrounded by gum trees
Cursed all over again
Wandering;
From one to the other I stumble
Wondering,
Which tree should I scar?
The fruits of my labour?
My many months of pain?
Hard, woody gum nuts, you see:
It's only for the sake of the dance
