i remember when the newmarket mall arrived
that glistening glass behemoth
all escalators and sales assistants
my friend said it was like melbourne
fleshy and pulsating with life
flush with strategically placed greenery
i remember when the newmarket mall arrived
it was under construction for so long
yellow diggers digging termites
steel columns welded bones
sheet cladding exoskeleton skin
the countdown was a crop circle
i remember when the newmarket mall arrived
the lights were all so bright
i wasn’t sure what was happening
but i was lost in that swell of food courts
the waves of fragrant metal and chloroform
all that endless parking resonating
i remember when the newmarket mall arrived
that was when my employment started
except my contract never ended
we stacked swiftly dispensed diligently
our new world order swallowed the weak
and i did not speak out of turn
until we
unionised
Featured image supplied by author.
