27 August 2004
who you gonna call?
before my brain operation
I knew what I was talking about
no one else did
maybe my poems
are like that
it doesn’t take an Einstein
to say e = whatever
but whatever it is
it’s bugging me
I can’t produce
a testable hypothesis
with universal application
in verse
they say to me
don’t give up your day job
they don’t know
I work at night
in secret
searching for the
patently obvious
someone wrote a novel about it once
I can’t remember the title
but there was this character
who was a bit obscure
you had to look beyond the book
not at it
and in your peripheral vision
a vague image
a thumbprint with ears
perhaps smiling
would loom into view
and disappear the moment you looked at it
I tried the ghost buster approach
with a shotgun
but the book
leaked after that
wouldn’t keep the rain out
and when closed
the wind whistled through
I looked for another copy
at the State Library
not in their catalogue
at THE Hobart Bookshop
Chris Pierce said sorry
out of print
then I tried amazon
.com
paid $1.48 for a second hand copy
plus $9.79 shipping & handling
seven days later a memo from the seller my apologies but I could not find this book to send I must have already sold it your order with me has been fully refunded and cancelled total refund for this order $11.27
meanwhile
my tumour
is growing again
already the signs
are not good