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  • Published 20241105
  • ISBN: 978-1-923213-01-2
  • Extent: 196 pp
  • Paperback, ebook, PDF

Though he lives in a rundown unit

above a busy intersection,

the pyjama man

imagines that the sounds of the traffic

are the waves of the ocean.

It is not automobiles

that are passing by his window;

it is the crashing of waves into the shore.

He finds the sound of the ocean therapeutic

and becomes a man of peace.

His friends tell him it is the traffic,

the relentless sound of the traffic,

that has driven him mad,

that has caused this fantasy.

Their negativity

makes him even more determined

to believe the delusion.

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About the author

Damian Balassone

Damian Balassone’s writing has appeared in a variety of Australian and international publications, including The New York Times, The Australian, Light, Abridged, The Spectator,...

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