PARALLEL LIVES

fireseed has made his bed
now he must lie in it
and quit grumbling
home in his spare room
he reverts to pipe n slippers man
without a pipe or slippers
a radiator instead of a roaring hearth
typing out his mono log
while his loved ones sweetly sleep
and do not stir
out there
many miles away from this cosy scene
across the breathless globe
gazillions of different human scenarios play themselves out
tales of comedy and tragedy
hilarity and depravity
sweet serendipity and bitter irony
in the dark heart of africa
savage acts of gruesome and unspeakable brutality
are unleashed like a wild and angry storm
the product of longstanding injustice and grudge
piled upon poverty and emnity
elsewhere unbearable tragedies unfold
the last breath of a child cradled in its mother's arms
in some cholera-infested badland
the assassination of a union rep
due to testify at the hands of a government-sponsored death squad
a child soldier is kidnapped
then plied with drugs to keep him compliant
meanwhile life goes on
the masses endure the daily grind
then seek their pleasures and their kicks
among the bright lights and dark alleyways
festering in damp sordid bedsits
or living it large in draughty country piles
at venice beach
the musclebound hunks and cosmetic babes flaunt their airbrushed charms
in the brisa de la palma a teenage rasputin takes the sting from a gin
six foot four trannies totter along the streets of sydney
brandishing a stray high heel or two
a wooden fishing boat bobs and creaks under the stars
in a tiny timorese harbour
a naive young man sings to the moon
and aches for his sweetheart across the the city
a gang of crumpled corporate whores crash some fleshpot in bangkok
where the hostesses do weird tricks with pingpong balls
a young monk gazes out serenely across a himalayan panorama
a lifer whistles as he completes his hundredth press-up in his sing sing cell
a wild-eyed indian ascetic smears his body with saffron
a jaded factory filipina grabs another circuitboard from a conveyor belt
a faded movie star takes an overdose of sleeping pills
and collapses on the couch
an east london gangster heads ruefully for murder mile
a camel train threads its way slowly across the desert
a mountain porter pauses to rest his load of tourist grog on a broad rock
in a basque bedroom where the music mixes with the smoke
a middle-aged woman sobs as she exhales a joint
an angry ambulance driver curses another hoax call out
in a bland malaysian suburb a woman betrays her lover
for a casual fling with a stranger
musak fills the lift as it heads for the fortieth floor
the pipe slowly burns out
the slippers cool
and the grass?
who said it was greener?