By Jake Dennis.
This poem won the Right Now Poetry Competition, judged by Maxine Beneba-Clarke, Amanda Anastasi and Benjamin Solah. Read the shortlist here.
No Asians. Your desire
armed like a swastika
one dimensional but real.
Sorry, you’ve typed, just
my preference. It’s not love
you’re after, hotaussie1989, just
a white Australia fuck
off.
Young Aussie, strange brother,
I was born here too. Like you
my certificate bears the white
blue Southern Cross tattoo
the crest of our house,
the loam you fight to keep
our families from.
Our dicks must be a threat
if you are so concerned
of this “invasion
of Asian”. Dear brother,
I’m as hard as you
but
I will never be the Aussie you are,
the Aussie you want
me to be, or become
the enemy
in you.
Jake Dennis is a jazz singer and poet published in Art Monthly Australia, Cordite, The Disappearing App, Landscapes, Little Raven, Lost Coast Review USA, The Mozzie, Poetry NZ, Structo UK, and Voiceworks. He has performed with Mint Jazz Band and last year released his first original song, “Like Blown Smoke”. He has poems forthcoming in in Brief, Short and Sweet, Social Alternatives, and The Stars Like Sand.
