"Funny, I don't remember no good dope days. I remember walking for miles in a dope fiend haze. I remember sleeping in houses that had no electric. I remember being called a ******, but I couldn't accept it. I remember hanging out in abandos that were empty and dark. I remember shooting up in the bathroom and falling out at the park. I remember nodding out in front of my sisters kid. I remember not remembering half of the things that I did. I remember the dope man's time frame, just ten more minutes. I remember those days being so sick that I just wanted to end it. I remember the birthdays and holiday celebrations. All the things I missed during my incarceration. I remember overdosing on my bedroom floor. I remember my sisters cry and my dad having to break down the door. I remember the look on his face when I opened my eyes, thinking today was the day that his baby had died. I remember blaming myself when my mom decided to leave. I remember the guilt I felt in my chest making it hard to breathe. I remember caring so much but not knowing how to show it. and I know to this day that she probably don't even know it. I remember feeling like I lost all hope. I remember giving up my body for the next bag of dope. I remember only causing pain, destruction and harm. I remember the track marks the needles left on my arm. I remember watching the slow break up of my home. I remember thinking my family would be better off if I just left them alone. I remember looking in the mirror at my sickly completion. I remember not recognizing myself in my own **** reflection. I remember constantly obsessing over my next score but what I remember most is getting down on my knees and asking God to save me cuz I don't want to do this no more !!!"
- Delaney Farrell

When they killed my mother it made me nervous
I thought to myself, it was right:
Of course she was crazy, and how she ate!
And she died, after all, in her way,  for the state.
But I minded: how queer it was to stare
At one of them not sitting there.

When they drafted sister I said all night,
"It's healthier there in the fields";
And I would think "now I'm helping to win the war,"
When the neighbors came in, as they did, with my meals.
And I was, I was, but I was scared
With only one of them sitting there

When they took my cat for the Army Crops
Of conservation and supply,
I thought of him there in the cold with the mice
And I cried, and I cried, and I wanted to die.
They were there, and I saw them, and that is my life.
Now there is nothing. I'm dead, and I want to die

                                                                      Randall Farrell (1914-1965)

Man that dog is Farrell
He got me like I’m single
Got a lighter for a lady
Come and say maybe
Spend some time with me
Show enough we keep
Stepping on a beat
Come dance with me
I think he got me on a leash
But I can speak fast
When my mind unwrapps
Bout to tap that
But walking in the street
Feels clean to me
Stopping on Ferret
Gonna win that bet
No ciggerettes please
But my lungs got needs

And I can’t stop thinking of you.

The Raiders show raiders v st george at GIO Stadium

    with johnny brown and Sue Longways




johnny’   welcome dudes to GIO stadium to this match between the dragons and the raiders and this is going to be a

great match, the raiders are 11th and the dragons are at 14, and whoever wins, I can guarantee it will be a spectacle

and i have Pete from Hawker with us now with a poem for us, hoping to get the Raiders into top swing

Pete”    ok dudes let’s swing it

you see the bad and mean green machine, big and strong and fast and mean

you see you shouldn’t try and stop these men in green, cause we are 3 positions higher than the opposition

Johnny’  well, short but sweet, and have you been worried about form in some matches

Pete’   well, yes, but that makes no difference, the raiders are going to win dudes, i will sing it again

you see we are the bad and mean green machine, big and strong and fast and mean

you see you shouldn’t try and stop these men in green, cause we are 3 positions higher than the opposition

Johnny’   well thanks Pete and now here is Sue Longways with another fine poem from the crowd

Sue’   thanks Johnny and what a great atmosphere here at GIO Stadium today, a great twilight match, and everyone

is in fine voice to cheer the raiders to beat the dragons tonight, and here is John Barten from Queanbeyan and he hates

how the Raiders went to Canberra all those years ago, so he sings a dragons tune

John’   go the dragons go the dragons

go the mighty dragons team

you see it’s only early in the season

go the mighty dragons cause the raiders moved here

I know we shouldn’t hold a grudge, mate, but i am and there is nothing you can do oh no

go the mighty dragons and i will go for them till the Raiders go back to Seiffert Oval, dudes

Sue”   thanks John and now here is Harold from Lyneham

Harold’   i am the bad and mean raiders fan

we supply the best coming out of the can

you see i go to the footy with mates george and dan

you see we’ll hit ya hit ya hit ya the mighty green machine

Sue’  thanks Harold and now here is the Raiders team, bring on the team

Jordan Rapana and Sisa Waqa and Jarrod Croker and Jarrad kennedy and edrick lee and blake austin and Mitchell Cornish


and Shannon Boyd and Josh Hodgson and Dane Tilse and Josh Papali and Sia Solicia and Shaun Fensom

and the 4 interchange players  Josh McRone and Frank-Paul Nuuausala and Paul Vaughan and Luke Bateman

and now here is Ken from Symonston with his poem

Ken”   i have been coming out to the GIO stadium every time we play

you see it’s fun when we win, but when we lose, we certainly do ****** pay

and the main thing about it is, we beat the easy teams and beat the hard teams but never at the best time

come on Raiders, it’s surely the time to win, oh ****** yeah


sue”   thanks Ken and now here is Rob with his jingle

Rob”     Run Raiders run

as we charge onto the GIO stadium yeah

run raiders run you see we have the team, we’ll win oh yeah

yeah we will come a running, and score a hundred tries

yeah that will be so cool,

run raiders run, oh yeah the Raiders are the team to beat i hope

run raiders run

they are the team that will thrash the opposition yeah

you see we won one and lost one

run raiders run

yeah the mighty raiders, will be our son of a gun

Sue”    thanks Rob for that and now here is the dragons team


first is Peter Mata’utia and Etonia Nabuli and Dan Nielson and Dylan Farrell and Jason Nightingale

and gareth Widdop and Benji Marshall and Leeson Ah Mau and Mitch Rein and George Rose

and Tyson Frizell and Joel Thompson and Jack de Belin

and the interchange men are trent Merrin and Heath L”Estrange and Rory O’Brien and Mike Cooper and Jake Marketo

and here is Mike from Jerrabomberra with his jingle

oh yeah those dragons yeah, they win more than the raiders yeah

they supply all the tries, in fact more tries than the locals, why don’t they win the grand

well i think i know, it’s because we lose our playing ability after thrashing the raiders here and anywhere

so go the dragons, go the mighty dragons, the right team to win the match

sue’   ok thanks Mike and now here is Keith from Latham with his song

carn the carn the carn the mighty raiders team, please dudes don’t make us say **** mate

make our raiders team win, carn the raiders carn the raiders, watch our team win well

on our home ground see, go the mighty raiders for a great victory

ya see i live in Latham and in my lounge room i have raiders cushions and raiders tables and heaps

of videos too including the great grand final victories in ’89 and “91 and the great ‘94

they haven’t won a grand final since in the first grade oh no

but if they win a few games where they don’t drop the ball too much

they will play so ****** hard, GO THE RAIDERS, DUDES

Sue’   ok that is it for me, and now back to Johnny

Johnny”  thanks Sue for telling us the teams and letting us hear some great home truths, let’s hope the

Raiders can win tonight, and now here is ?Bob from Cook with a jingle

Bob’   go the raiders go the raiders, do ya reckon we have the stamminer to win today

go the raiders go the raiders, should we win, should we win

twinkle twinkle raiders pack, how i wonder whether you’ll win

up above the GIO park tonight, make sure we clean this game free of fights

twinkle twinkle raiders pack, go the raiders through and through

Johnny’ thanks Bob and now here is Ernie from Higgins with his rhyme

hey ****** ****** the dragons are ready, are they going to win

all have the raiders put all their dropping the ball crap in the flaming bin

Shaun Fensom laughed at this little rhyme, as hopefully the raiders grab the 2 points

Johnny’  thanks Ernie and first my tip, well to the ladder, i say Raiders, on current form, well raiders be 6, could be more

and who do you support Sue

Sue’    well to the ladder, the Raiders, but on current form, dragons by 2, but i could change

Johnny”   ok, we’ll be back at half time, ok, here on the Raiders show

GO THE CANBERRA RAIDERS

An apple core fell to the earth
released by me for what its worth.
I had no thought nor care for it
for seeds don't look like trees from birth.

The flowering trees are brightly lit
as branches reach towards where i sit
to shade the seedling while it grows
the fruit from one discarded pit.

The orchard with it's many rows
of crimson leaves, each sunset knows
the crispness of this autumn air
will ripen what the sower sows.

And all too soon the branch is bare.
I cannot reach for apples there
but eat my applesauce with care
while rocking in my Malus*  chair.

I was sitting by a waterfall
with Perry today

Here amongst the Slow Divers

We smoked the usual obligotary marley
Then we pondered upon what had happened

Someone stole Perrys soul you see

His child of hope and recognition
for the unrecognized
was now gone

A few flowers
were aloud to bloom
but they too
were eventualy
plucked and stolen
by the corporate monster

We must make everything shiny so it can be sold

This pioneer
A shadow of his former
glowing brilliance
also was weeded by the dollar

He onced wished he was ocean size
But sharks now swim in those waters

So we "smoke the roach"
and we go on down that slide man
We go on down

into the ocean

Of shiny lollapolooza

A black ball of grime,
two legs sticking out
of the top.
Gooey and all covered
in slime, it's silently bleeding
and cannot stop will not stop.
Farrell the adventures,?
Farwell the friends that made
his arial travels shorter,?
his stare is not with us
anymore?he has forgot 
whatever friends?there ever was ?

Dead Pigeon. ?

Tossed like a pile of ****.t?
ran over a couple dozen of times ?
by tires and people's kicks.?
But he is dead he just won't ?react,
someone please do ?something! ?

Dead Pigeon. ?

The bird deserves a burial ?
he is calling at me
with ?his glossy eyes:
?asking me to help
?but I can't?
Dead Pigeon?
But he still lives!
?His eyes, veiled,
bloodshot and?black,
point at the gutter?as if to say: ?
Oh the Horror! ?**The Horror!

The lingering odour of skin, smoke stained
On fabric and behaviours learnt, torn and burnt
All the while representations of irony
Spring up and flourish by sounds of siren

Deep from within the unwound, forgotten back streets
A palace devoid of royalty stagnates, their enigma
Only to awaken a far from fairy tale kingdom
Where lowered heads confirm discouraged hearts

Discarded brown paper bags blow as tumbleweed
Searching a vast soul now yearning for salvation
Just as the clasp on an empty bottle is too a burden
Replicating the mirrored inadequacy of one's self

Hush, don't stir, be still and forget
There is no need to fret, for your secrets will recover
As before, your eyes will cry desert like tears
Fuelling a familiar marathon of isolated misery

The sound of sullen and resentful silence
Inherited on the wings of the ever sure failings
Closest friend of the indiscriminate rapacious lover
Whose failings  resulted in vanquished flame

Shane T Farrell