Garema Place

If you were from Canberra you’d understand
That it was Gus’s Place that taught us style
As we drank beaned coffee with Italian names
So sophisticated, so alive; and on the street!
And it was Gus who taught us how to fight
That narrow minds a prison make
And rules seem powerful but give no life

Around the corner is Garema Place
The statue of a man with boy reaching upwards
A prize never obtained, corroding deep green
And Bible House selling Bibles in the centre of town
Underneath a banner, a toilet block behind
A Christian group sang songs with accordions
While their mates from school looked on

But Gus himself has gone and died
And Bible House is boarded up
It shares its street with bars and drunks
And the Christian singers have had their time
Now the homeless take their place, as night falls
While young girls board the bus to Fyshwick
If you were from Canberra, you’d understand

Image attribution: Garema Place, 1970, National Archives of Australia A8763, KN225556
Public Domain as more than 50 years since made.