The Secret of Boundary Street

Wandering up Boundary Street
Saturday night
past Dodgy Larry's
Mr Money Bags—Friendly Trader
Lychee Lounge pumping hip hop into the street
A bearded Aboriginal man calls:
Ay got a dollar?
Looking at his bare feet
1 dig around in my hip pocket
All that comes out is light silver
I pour it into his hand
saying Sorry clumsy
Waddya mean? laughing
I realise he's not drunk
I look up to his eye level,
no hostility
Disarmed Well I mean sorry for...
the situation...y 'know the situation
disadvantage... advantage
He replies Yr not from round here?
I'm from Canberra
More embarrassed
Don't worry about it mate.
Think of it as the rent.
Y'know where yer standing?
I look blank
He stretches his skinny arm
Boundary Street,
back in the 1890s,
early 1900s,
a black fella get shot
for crossin this boundary after midnight,
official policy...
now it s unofficial.
Yeah. Boundary streets
all around Brisbane.

Hal Judge