Her life
is just a place
with a stiff upper lip face
the I wish I was her place
If only I'd done that
said that too late
shut your eyes and pray
especially when you're scared place
A breeding bleeding showcase
barefoot baggage with briefcase
strutting your stuff in the rat race
roll your sleeves up
get stuck into it
some more equal than others place
Get out of my face
I need my own space
the I wish we'd never met place
there's gotta be more than this
and no going back to base place

 


Kentucky


Last night
Jim Beam squeezed me
good and tight
gripped me by the throat
and warmed my belly oh
it was good real good
I sat there on my own
being loved by that barley boy
hot talk about hot
there ain't nothin' no man
as hot as old Jim Beam.

I had this little glass
no bigger than that
and I held it tight
matter of fact I've done it before
filled it again with the sour mash
and oh that barley boy
knows where it's at
spread his warm warm glow
right down to my toes
that curled right up
to my friggin' nose
and oh Jim
I love ya boy
I love ya.



Paula McKay is a Yorkshire woman, now living and writing in Sydney. Her work is widely published in magazines and journals in Australia, U.K., and New Zealand, most recently in Ulitarra, Five Islands Anthology, Sidewalk Collective and Centoria. Forthcoming in Australian Multicultural Review, Centoria, Four W eleven, Red Lamp, Social Alternatives. She is co-editor of the poetry e-magazine Sydney Mosaic.