Balarang Bay

Whenever I miss the bus to school –

like today –

I ride my bike along Lake Road,

around Coraki Lake,

past Tipping Point

and into Morawa National Park.

I ignore the sign that reads:

HORSES AND BICYCLES PROHIBITED

and follow the track

watching for snakes

and swooping magpies.

I make it to school before the bell

if I pedal like a crazy

and forget the brakes

on the long downhill into town

past the billboard of bikini models

trumpeting:

WELCOME TO BALARANG BAY

MILES OF SMILES.

Balarang is Aboriginal for

‘place of the swamp oak’

but the council

didn’t want to put ‘swamp’

on the billboard,

so they chose bikini models instead.

They paid an advertising company

a truckload of cash

to come up with

MILES OF SMILES.

Manx and I would have

accepted much less

and been closer to the truth with:

ACRES OF FAKERS

and the by-line:

WHERE THE UTE MEETS

THE MOBILITY SCOOTER.

Manx told me he’s planning

on getting a spray can from the local hardware

to do some creative dental work

on the models in the billboard

to show his civic pride.