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Life Arts    H4'ed 6/1/24

Sonnet: Me Aussie Blues

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John Hawkins
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'Far Flung into the Outback Night'
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Sonnet: Me Aussie Blues

by John Kendall Hawkins

.

Far flung by Mad King George and never recovered,

chasing down foam packs of dirty little dingoes

far into the deep thickets of the outback night,

we drink to excess to celebrate our nothing.

It could have been worse: We could have been Yanks. Our king

did, with merry wisdom, make sure we were all white,

and though certainly crim'ly insane, not wingoes

who delight at their toast -- all vegemite-smothered.

.

I'm not here now to haruspicate old roses:

Beauty has flown, of that I'm assured; odor's not scent.

and milady, not what she once was, says, Get bent.

I have grown content with all me Aussie poses,

and argots -- none of us knows what the other meant:

serving up contradiction in smart ar*e doses.

.

Well, I lean me toward the setting sun of empire,

knowing Union Jack was just a pommy vampire.

.

#####

NOTE:

The poet doubts his own historical sense and hereby acknowledges what Gemini the Google ChatGPT tells him:

King George III who presided over the American colonies wasn't actually the one who initiated convict transportation to Australia. There's some confusion around the timeline and monarchs involved.

Here's a breakdown of the key points:

**Convict Transportation:** This policy began in the 1780s, after the American Revolution forced Britain to find a new penal colony.

**King George III:** While he did reign during this period, his mental health issues became prominent later, around the 1780s and 1800s.

So, the decision to transport convicts to Australia was made for practical reasons, not by a "mad king." Britain needed a new location to house convicts after losing the American colonies, a place previously used for penal transportation. Australia offered a remote location with potential for economic development through convict labor.

What would we do without AIs?

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John Kendall Hawkins is an American ex-pat freelance journalist and poet currently residing in Oceania.

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