By Allan Lake

Beige on beige quietly but pointedly whines, 

Please check me out as I humbly pretend to be 

ordinary but remain unnaturally free of stain.

Coffee with non-dairy ‘milk’ in take-away

(don’t say disposable) cup that was (a tree) 

not previously kissed by ordinary monkeys. 

She’ll place used-once cup in recycle bin 

because she’s saving the environment 

while voting for (primarily) male primates 

who don’t. This beach is a lot like the last three 

we passed by leased Porsche as someone plays 

tour guide but beaches get less commentary 

than the new (subtly branded) beige (of course) 

designer bag which matches someone’s beige 

clothes, beige furniture, beige as beige life. 

But I’m not here (mentally, much of the time) 

to validate someone’s sense of ownership 

of (eastern, of course) Sydney, Australia, 

with its famed beaches and charming but 

unaffordable houses, salted away 

on so many steep cliffs above. 

Afterall, she’s a renter.

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Allan Lake, originally from Canada, has lived on Cape Breton Island, Ibiza, Tasmania, Sicily, and Melbourne. His latest chapbook of poems, “My Photos of Sicily,” was published by Ginninderra Press. Such journals as The Hong Kong Review, The American Writers Review, Tokyo Poetry Journal, The Antigonish Review, New Philosopher, and the Fabians Review have published his poems.