Merry Christmas
Ho, ho, ho, Merry Christmas
sings Santa, from his sleigh.
‘Look, Mummy – there’s Santa,’
the little girl cries
at darkened skies.
Merry Christmas, the Mum thinks,
while she wraps up the gifts,
and prepares the lamb feast,
as her Mum would do.
As she must do.
Merry Christmas – it’s that time
of year is it not? It’s
time for lost I love yous
punched ten years too late.
I did my bit.
‘Merry Christmas,’ says the priest
at the lectern of guilt.
I bless Orthodox style,
watch you choke on
holy smoke while
taking those coins
to feed my
hunger and
stuff the ones
not here
they’re just
drug
f**ked.
‘Merry Christmas!’ chimes the retailer
in a tinsel decorated store of
glittery jewels and every kind of
doll with an abundance of
kitchen-wear to slice yourself up
and shiny plasma screens to
zombie your eyes with and
speakers to blow your
brain with and food to
stuff your tummy with
and gifts to spread
Christmas cheer with.
‘Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!’
sing the shareholders.
‘Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!’
smoke the head-honchos,
with sweaty hands of
hundred-dollar bills.
‘Merry fucking Christmas,’ cries the
faceless slave from China that
made your necklace for
5 cents to feed his family
a cube of bread
while you wear
your thousand
dollar branded
necklace and
feel
grand.
© Koraly Dimitriadis
First published on the Overland website 24/12/2009
Drunk on Sleeping Beauty
Lips that shame the red rose, hair of sunshine-gold. She’ll offer springtime wherever she goes. Arora is stunning, thin, the victim of Maleficent’s cruelty. Arora dances to ‘Once upon a dream’ deep in the forest with cute, furry animals. The prince sneaks up behind her. She’s hesitant – she can’t talk to strangers. But they’ve met before: once upon a dream. She lets her guard down, he takes her in his arms, and right there, and that precise moment, I want to throw myself into the Disney Classic and never return to reality again. The prince is noble, gallant, a little rebellious. It’s love at first sight. He fights the evil dragon, conquers Maleficent and wakes Arora with true-love’s kiss. It ends happily ever after and the prince and princess dance in the clouds to ‘Once upon a dream’.
Love, take me away…
But I know something’s not right when my three-year old daughter is obsessed with Sleeping Beauty. We fight daily – she wants to play the DVD, put on her dress (no pants because Arora doesn’t wear pants!) and twirl with her imaginary prince. When she’s not waltzing, she stares at the screen quietly, absorbing every phrase. I wasn’t any different as a child, fixated on fairytales and Sleeping Beauty. But as I observe my daughter’s perception of love being moulded before my very eyes; when I hear of yet another couple breaking up, another ending in divorce; when I listen to single girlfriends whine that there are no decent guys out there; or girlfriends contemplating ending a relationship because they’re boyfriend isn’t romantic enough, should be more impulsive, has an annoying habit, isn’t more…something (they can’t put their finger on it), or they’re convinced they ‘can do so much better’, I have to wonder:
Did we all watch too much Sleeping Beauty?
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Christos Tsiolkas on Faith
December 11, 2009 at 8:57 am (Creative commentary, Interesting stuff) (Christos Tsiolkas, Emerging writer, Emerging Writer's Festival, help with writing, mentoring, The Reader)
This is an compressed version of an article I wrote which was published in the Emerging Writer’s Festival’s The Reader. It can be purchased from Readings and online at www.emergingwritersfestival.org.au. If you are an emerging writer or just starting out, I recommended buying a copy of The Reader – it is a comforting and educational read. The article I wrote was based on an interview I did with Christos which I recorded and I may be putting this audio on my website so stay tuned(Follow me on twitter or facebook for updates). It was such an inspiring interview. We sat outside on a sunny spring day, sipped our hot drinks at a small cafe and talked writing. Christos was honest and sincere, as always. Much more was covered in the interview than I ever could have put in the article. Here it is:
Don’t get into this if you’re looking for celebrity, don’t get into this if you’re looking for status, don’t get into this if you kind of like the idea of being a writer, do this if writing is the one thing you must do in your life, and if that is the reason you are continuing to do it, then you will find a way of developing.
- Christos Tsiolkas
‘Christos, why are you mentoring me?’ I asked this in the midst of writing despair. It was one of those days we all experience – no news from anywhere, dwindling motivation. And of course, his hearty laughter resounded through the café. What strikes me with Christos is how different he is from the characters in his novels. Although his work paints a sometimes bleak picture of society, Christos is grounded, courteous, and not afraid to crack a controversial joke.
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