i say no
Stephen House
my shabby room is mine for a hundred bucks a week
not far from the beach
away from the main road
the neighbours all seem cool
javanese lady-boy
on the game next door
asks me if i’m working from my room
i say no
the guys that come and go
are for recreational fun
though anything can happen when i’m broke
old aussie surfer
once well known
on the other side of my room
asks me if i surf
i say no
i use to
i now do yoga and run and swim
but i might pick up a board again
the waves down there look awesome
dutch painter upstairs
functioning ok for an alcoholic
asks me if i paint
i say no
i’m a writer and an actor
though i use to dabble in oils
he asks me if i drink
i say no
i use too heavily
but only when i was painting
handsome filipino gay bloke
two doors down
asks me if i’m looking for a relationship
i say no
i have a special one somewhere else
i’m into hook ups with nameless strangers
and fun buddies are all good too
french ice addict
covered in tatts
across the path from me
asks me if i’m wired when my lights are on all night
i say no
i’m straight and sober usually
writing poems until dawn
my drugs of choice are coffee and pot
though i never smoke weed in asia
i like my shabby room and life
with the international crowd all around
who are friendly and fascinating
and share some common interests and points of view
the big green sea only five minutes away
when i need to be alone and clear and free
and the handsome filipino isn’t only into relationships
i discovered late last night
when he dropped by my shabby room
while the others nearby in their shabby rooms
did whatever they do
Stephen House is an award-winning playwright, poet and actor. He’s had 20 plays produced, many commissioned, and many published by Australian Plays Transform. He’s won two Awgie Awards (Australian Writer’s Guild), an Adelaide Fringe Award, Rhonda Jancovich Poetry Award for Social Justice, Goolwa Poetry Cup, Feast Short Story Prize, and more. He’s been shortlisted for Lane Cove Literary Award, Overland Fair Australia Fiction Prize, Robyn Mathison Poetry Prize, Tom Collins Poetry Prize, Patrick White Playwright Award, Queensland Premier Drama Award, Greenroom Best Actor Award and more. He’s received Australia Council literature residencies to Ireland and Canada, and an India Asialink. He’s worked with many theatre companies. His chapbooks ‘real and unreal’ poetry and ‘The Ajoona Guest House’ monologue are published by ICOE Press Australia. He has performed his acclaimed monologues, ‘Appalling Behavior’, ‘Almost Face to Face’ and ‘The Ajoona Guest House’ widely. His poems are published often. Stephen’s play, ‘Johnny Chico’ ran in Spain for 4 years. Stephen House at ē·rā/tiō.