John Scully and Tracy Halliday
Our Mutual Friends
None spoke of them
unwashed, withdrawn from life
where scarcity is the daily nitty-gritty
and muster-rolls of misery
wait for a lion's share of pity.
For Tom, Dick and Elsie Brown who never sleep
an early morning drink
in claret cups of 'woe betide me'
send messages to those who
think, 'thank God not I, but he'.
And when before the dawn
damp, ragged, these souls emerge
dust covered in 'whatever next' retorts
waiting for church doors
opening at precisely six,
our penitents on bended knee
pray with rosary mix.
It's really just a documentary
repeated daily for Charities to view on Channel Nine
and by occasion Governments at Christmas time.
Our friends they say, with kindness unreserved
are the whodunits, the have-nots
in torn and threadbare jackets handed down.
But what can we do, the purists say
as at nine, on time, the church doors close
on just another day. 
Flower pot markers by Tracy Halliday
Page(s) 20
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