Published in Overland Issue 224 Spring 2016 · Uncategorized Solve a problem and it grows two heads Michael Farrell when I get what i want i worry go off bleeding into the Dusk lean my hungry Head against a taco Truck, nibble till i’m fit to bust on service Friendliness. independence is stark and hard-won, like a Sky blue Tiger that scares off mice but won’t touch Flies: and tigers are so unmusical, I think but don’t say turning Conversation into a stalemate which reminds Me i meant to get a crow to share the Load of bread my mother sent. my Dentist says i’ve naturally gold Teeth so i hide my smile when i’m down the Street in case of muggers You love me so much i daren’t risk the Love i might get from others when I was in rome i was jealous of Everyone in paris: it created an emotional Short-circuit, that followed Me around the world. it was like when I was an uphill champion and I felt so well i would take a pill and some Medicine to wash it down suddenly There were two hills and double the Competition and two Bottles of water making me twice as thirsty so I went twice as fast to get away from It all and found Myself in the desert sitting on cacti and talking to Camels like they were Poets and dreamers not thieves and Sorcerers or dope test informers suddenly a Bullet came out of the West and i saved my humpy Mate’s life with an improvised Vest: it fell off their chest into a Tin can i produced for the purpose now This was music but i’d never find a Producer in this apparently deservedly maligned Part of earth Michael Farrell Originally from Bombala, NSW, Michael Farrell is a Melbourne-based poet, with a collage practice which can be seen on instagram @limechax. Googlecholia is out now from Giramondo. More by Michael Farrell › Overland is a not-for-profit magazine with a proud history of supporting writers, and publishing ideas and voices often excluded from other places. If you like this piece, or support Overland’s work in general, please subscribe or donate. Related articles & Essays 31 January 202531 January 2025 · Racism The QUT Symposium: holding the line against rising racism Elizabeth Strakosch, Jordy Silverstein, Crystal McKinnon, Eugenia Flynn, Natalie Ironfield, Holly Charles, Priya Kunjan, Roj Amedi and Lina Koleilat Last weeks's QUT Symposium met in the staunch tradition of the Brisbane Blacks, who have fought for sovereignty, land rights, liberation and an end to racial violence for decades. It was a gathering of Elders, academics, organisers and frontline community workers who speak, theorise and embody the truth about race and racism in this place. It refused to clothe itself in multicultural platitudes about tolerance, or to speak about racism only in terms of individual prejudice. 29 January 202529 January 2025 · Palestine The demonisation of the Palestine movement fuels anti-Muslim racism Mariam Tohamy and Miroslav Sandev The spate of anti-Muslim racist attacks around the country are being fuelled by the anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian policies of mainstream politicians. Political attempts to undermine the Palestine movement and bipartisan support for Israel’s genocide are causing this.