The 1st woman
in the 99 year ol’ History
of the
Melbourne Stock Exchange:
​                LYN HEAP
stood Up on the floor
of the Exchange
(alongside about 100 shirt-sleeved males)
& hollered
“as loud as a fishmonger’s wife
at the market”
to the “chalkies” running up
& down
the catwalk
for an END to the “recession”
the voices
(on the floor)
reaching a crescendo
around 3pm.

my desk calendar
tells me
there are 362 shopping days left
till Xmas
& that money, like manure
isn’t worth a ¢
unless i spread it round
cos the single most important turbine
in the world: the U.S. $
(on which
my food & rent depend)
is gearing up for
“economic World recovery”
& unless i spend
i won’t enjoy
Easter
and as an
“added bonus” (to Truth, Justice & the
American-way:
“Sieg Heil!”)
tours
of the Exchange are open to the public
starting today
at 10am
(till the 27th)

but today
is the 3rd of January
1984
& the preserve
of your average Joe Blow, Missus & Co.,
is the beach
at St Kilda, Brighton
or Sorrento
where you can bung-on
a gas-mask
& rummage about
the plastic-bottles,
cans,
½ submerged cars, & the
effluent
that stimulates growth
in seaweed
on the foreshore

EXTRA! EXTRA!
LILLEE QUITS TEST CRICKET
!OH  !OH  !OH

First published in Overland 96—1984