*This article is the monthly winner of the IA Writing Competition Most Enthralling Fiction Work category.
FOOTBALL FOLLY
your words will not seduce us
however hard you try
Tassie's travelled down this road before
and we've learned that words belie
the truth behind those statements
designed to soothe and satisfy
and that claim all kinds of benefits
like economic boons that just defy
all reason, common sense, and facts –
it makes us roll our eyes and sigh
those attributes you say will flow
from this AFL team deal
and a brand new shiny stadium
that you insist is so ideal
because unless there is a stadium
there'll also be no team
AFL boss Gil has spoken, and
brooks no argument it seems
so this large and ugly stadium
for which you've sold Tasmania's soul
will have a billion dollar price tag
once costs spin beyond control
(which they will, that’s just a given
no matter how much you cajole)
but you’ve dismissed public opinion
in the one and lonely poll
(the result not one you wished for
but instead a clear own goal!)
yet you still support this eyesore
that's been dubbed a toilet bowl
so like premiers before him, Rockliff insists we have a fight
and the state is now divided because he’s chosen to incite
the anger of the people – but the culprit’s still the same
be it pulp mills, dams or forests
the ‘greenies’ always are to blame
never mind the hospitals that are struggling to cope
or the doctors and the nurses who’ve all abandoned hope
that your government will listen, appreciate the crisis that is health
you say the stadium’s more important
because it will help increase our wealth
and never mind the homeless, Rocky
all those people sleeping rough
you think the stadium's more important
than Tasmanians doing it tough
Anne Layton-Bennett is a writer based in Tasmania. This article is the monthly winner of the IA Writing Competition Most Enthralling Fiction Work category.
*Full IA Writing Competition details and conditions of entry HERE.
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