Democracy feels like an impossibility. That there is no such thing.

It’s like grinding metal. The hard mechanical exertion to enacting democracy. The sweat of labour.

In Sydney I think of being at a protest – a park, a throng of bodies, of human sweat and of faint greenery – city greenery, dusty greenery – greenery trying really hard to be green and of rain. I’m not a big protester, I don’t like crowds, or crowd mentality.

I was at that very nice one – March in March. The one against everything – the one about being a good human being.

Right now democracy in Sydney is eroded. With the amalgamation of councils and the things that Mike Baird is doing. A low moment in democracy.

SCENT

Hard, metal, human – sweaty, earthy, and hopeful green.

By

Gail Priest