So, the right-wing newspaper columnist

calls out the ‘statue haters’ — those

who sign off on The Age of Exploration.

 

These statues are as innocent as history.

For him, they are factual whereas

the Stolen Generations are a construction.

 

O, the legacies of the printer’s hellbox.

Contraindicative, we see the fusing

of ‘refugees and terrorism’, we hear

 

the denial of compensation for the brutalities

of Manus Island. The Columnist — point blank —

prefers statues over refugees, over Aboriginal

 

peoples’ rights to their own country.

But the statues have aged with the climate —

changing, that is. Transforming. Assimilating?

 

His readers might deny that also. The script

of the navigator — observe what is useful

to your patrons. Sink all rivals’ boats.

 

And statues. Keep the sea-lanes open

to The Crown, your protector — don’t sail

over the edge of the world, but brave it out.

 

The statues aren’t white, not usually,

which is a flaw in the choice of materials —

in the casting. ‘Statue haters’ should paint

 

over statues with white paint only, white

as pigeon shit — bring out their essence,

the truth.