Brown Hills
for Vivienne
On a brown hill
a mother with low income
and lackadaisy husband
stands with her two thin girls
gawk-eyed at the window of their home
as the large department store blazes
flames casting strange light across the city
Razed to the ground the building
the merchandise the lay-bys the records
And in the fire the mother's account
all her white goods the fridge
the freezer a twin-tub washing machine
another seven years of scraping debt
An honest woman she died ashamed
that she never wrote and told them
how much she owed them
© Lizz Murphy
Order Two Lips Went Shopping from Spinifex Press
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