I visited Australia once

 

I visited Australia once

 

I visited Australia once, he said, terribly conservative place. & he was right. We really haven’t grown up. The teenage nation playing grown ups. Still happily ruled over by a foreign king. You see us mispronouncing foreign words in restaurants by night talking about reality television & social media. You know, ‘sophisticated.’ Terrified of liberty. The teenage love of cops & robbers. Lock em up! we cry. A herd mentality of yays! & boos! A frightened people clinging on to the last of the stolen land as our economy shrinks by the day. Fiercely anti-intellectual. Anyway who thinks differently is a pariah. Debate reduced to symbolism, avoiding the existential. A land without God or philosophy, its solution: avoidance of the big questions. My Irish father was a writer. When he sent his Joycean manuscript to the publishers, he was told “keep it light. Keep it light.” Because Australians aren’t serious about anything other than rules & regulations. Handmaidens of mining & insurance companies. Risk averse & cowardice. We look rich but deep down we have barren hearts. What do we say: if you don’t like it, you can leave. Criticism is out of bounds. As we were founded in a genocide we haven’t faced, we sweep things under the carpet. Sheep to the last. Small talk aiming to hide an ugly soul. & don’t talk to me about our refugee policy.

 

 

Published & Copyright Malachi Doyle 2024.