leaf-blowers

the area i live in ripped out much native growth and planted introduced plane trees /  i’m told they grow fast and the summer green shades and some think they are pleasing to look at / towards winter their leaves fall as other non-native leaves do and the roads and paths are covered / ankle deep and all over the place and then the leaf-blowers begin with their madness / and horrible it is that buzzing and whirring as obsessed leaf-haters blow their machinery / into piles and lines making me wonder is it only me who hates that noise / i wish they’d forget the leaves that have dropped and let them sit or exit with wind / and it brings up the issue of wouldn’t it make more sense to have native trees on our roads instead / trees that stay with their leaves all year and are suited to the four season climate / giving homes to many indigenous creatures including an array of insects and birds / i don’t get the leaf-blowing of leaves or the addiction to non-native trees / although i’d say whatever the trees growing leaf-blowers would still be using their blowers / i’m convinced leaf-blowers love blowing the leaves to create that terrible sound / all i can say is i don’t understand leaf-blowers or the leaf-blowing they love //

Stephen House has won many awards and nominations as a poet, playwright, and actor. He’s had 20 plays produced with many published by Australian Plays Transform. He’s received several international literature residencies from The Australia Council for the Arts, and an Asialink India literature residency. He’s had two chapbooks published by ICOE Press Australia: ‘real and unreal’ poetry and ‘The Ajoona Guest House’ monologue. He performs his acclaimed monologues widely. Stephen had a play run in Spain for 4 years.