Asphalt Rivers

*




Out through the fields and the woods
And over the walls I have wended;
I have climbed the hills of view
And looked at the world, and descended;
I have come by the highway home,
And lo, it is ended.

The leaves are all dead on the ground,
Save those that the oak is keeping
To ravel them one by one
And let them go scraping and creeping
Out over the crusted snow,
When others are sleeping.

And the dead leaves lie huddled and still,
No longer blown hither and thither;
The last lone aster is gone;
The flowers of the witch-hazel wither;
The heart is still aching to seek,
But the feet question 'Whither?'

Ah, when to the heart of man
Was it ever less than a treason
To go with the drift of things,
To yield with a grace to reason,
And bow and accept the end
Of a love or a season?

Reluctance, Robert Frost.



Well, if only the journey hadn't been internal. If only he had been allowed to laugh at the party. The quick and the dead. The soft echoes of recrimination. It was time to begin again. Again. They were shadowed through the back streets. He always thought there was someone else in the room, even when he was entirely alone. He was sick at heart and sick of soul. There had been too many mistakes. The binging had destroyed his integrity. He was shadowed, followed, and he turned around sharply to see dark shapes disappearing down side alleys, he ran to find an empty lane. Disintegration. Paranoia. Emotional disturbance. He was here and he was gong to make something of it.

Lifting hi head from the asphalt, he knew there could be a fresh start. He knew, despite the sighing despair of his gut, that he would have no choice but to find the courage, to begin again, to make it through the day like every other person, if that indeed was what he was. All night drinking had become more than just a past time, it was a masterful art. Nobody else could dissolve themselves with the same finesse. He shadowed these dark stages, trying instinctively to hide when the night was already over, the sun was picking its way over the horizon, the buildings were taking shape in the dawn light. Whatever had happened? Who had he spoken to? Where had he been?

He remembered smiting from something the bitch had said. Past it. You're past it, love. She would say that, frightful queen. Why did he let these stray comments get through the wall? Why was he concerned at something that should never be? Because he wanted to be part of the crowd, one of his inner coterie. He wanted to be liked, to be sitting on those bar stools ordering more drinks and surrounded by acolytes, to be, God forbid, popular. The city alcoves where he had watched the sunrise barely seemed to justify the energy any more, the climbs up 14 floors, the dodging of boarded windows, the quiet breathing, the fear that someone would awake and find him there, on top of the world.

Nothing could be more beautiful than the glinting harbour, the smudged pinks and oranges of the clouds, the ripples on the water as the ferry made its first trip of the day across to Manly, the giant cargo ships heading into Darling Harbour. He wanted to be anyone but who he was. Embraces in the middle of the night, fervent, urgent, completely drink. He remembered no faces. All he remembered was abstract desire, as if the whole city was searching for love and he had been caught on the interchange, the cross currents as the suburban boys flooded in and out; and the old vultures chuckled to themselves, smoking and pawing at the passing the passing talent.

There had been a point when he had been at home, one of the crowd, laughing, gossiping, loading pressure on to pleasure, unconcerned over the transmission of diseases. They were there in the night and that was their sexuality, orgasms en masse, the packed and hunting crowds, the flows of lines in his sketch pad as he tried to capture everything, before the obliteration of message, before alcohol brought unconsciousness and blessed relief. He was shattered. He wanted to come from a normal family. He didn't want to feel universal angst sighing in his guts. He didn't want to see the tragedy of the ages in every dropped wrist, every exaggerated gesture, every shrieked outburst: darling, darling, she's not well.

All he wanted to see was familiar gardens and people who loved each other, families with children, young, handsome teens with the world in front of them, normal people who didn't perve at everything that passed. He didn't want to grow old and sad, sitting on a bar stool. He didn't want to find meaning in the liquid flows of darkness that was the city, the streaming asphalt rivers, the swish of traffic on a wet road, the memories that meant nothing to anyone else. These bars. These people. Their stories. But Aids swept through the lot of them; and increasingly he saw the final results, just nearby at the St Vincents Hospice. There wasn't any fun any more, in these ravaged, skeletal figures. They reached out and wanted to be loved, now, most of all. And all he could see was the black clouds of fungus and viruses that surrounded them, the contagion, the dismal ends. He didn't want to end that way, a tribute in a local magazine, the tiniest of blips in the history of the city's underbelly. He did what he thought was right, and continued to visit.



THE BIGGER STORY:

http://www.news.com.au/business/story/0,27753,24569402-462,00.html

PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd's pledge to ease the financial pressure on families is failing with a growing number of workers struggling to make ends meet.

Nearly two million workers have fallen behind in paying their mortgage and credit card debts, reinforcing fears that Australia will be hard hit by the global meltdown.

Eleven months after Labor's election victory, millions of workers also remain vulnerable to harsh workplace laws - with one-third existing under "precarious" conditions.

The alarming results are contained in a national survey of more than 7000 workers. It found that Australians are working longer hours - but are less likely to belong to a union.

The Workplace Research Centre survey has renewed calls for the Federal Government to reinstate tougher safeguards for vulnerable workers.

As the Government scrambles to help families cope with worsening economic conditions, the survey found that millions of employees are already doing it tough.

The survey, to be released today, found 56 per cent are just "coping" or struggling to get by - compared to 52 per cent last year.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24569306-2702,00.html

THE federal Government has thrown mortgage and investment funds a lifeline with a scheme that allows them to apply for a banking licence to qualify for a government guarantee on deposits.

After days of crisis talks, the offer came as hundreds of thousands of investors learnt they had become unwitting victims of the freeze in deposits through their superannuation accounts.

An AXA spokeswoman said that of the $2.1 billion frozen in its mortgage funds, $1.4billion was wholesale, and most of that was superannuation. About half the $2billion caught in Perpetual's six frozen funds is also wholesale.

In a bid to unlock the funds, the Government has instructed the banking regulator, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, to fast-track applications for banking licences. But the Government has ruled out extending the safety net of a guarantee to the millions of investors in managed funds.

In a speech to the Australia Unlimited roundtable in Melbourne last night, Kevin Rudd made clear that any financial institution wanting a government guarantee would have to apply for a banking licence.

"Subject to the successful application of these financial institutions (which means meeting the prudential standards), they will of course be covered by the government guarantee. But only if they meet the prudential standards of deposit-taking institutions."

The announcement, which followed two days of consultation between Treasury, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and industry bodies, will bring little comfort to the hundreds of thousands of investors whose funds, totalling more than $25 billion, have been frozen in mortgage and property trusts.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/10/29/2403969.htm?section=business

Frozen investment companies may be able to access the Federal Government's deposits guarantee if they subject themselves to tougher rules and regulations.

The Federal Government is encouraging the companies to apply to come under the control of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) like banks and other institutions.

That would give the companies the protection of the deposits guarantee and stop the flow of funds out of their investments.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced $80 million for the financial regulators with some to be used to help speed up the application process.

At least 15 companies have frozen assets to stop investors taking their money to banks and other institutions that are covered by the guarantee.

Assistant Treasurer Chris Bowen told ABC 1's Lateline the move will help some fund management companies lift the freeze.

"After discussions with these funds over the last two days, [we] moved to improve their liquidity via bringing them under the APRA regulation if they choose to," he said.

"Now, a number of those funds have indicated to us that they are actively pursuing that.

"We wouldn't have done this unless they had indicated to us that they thought it would be helpful."

But Prime Minister Kevin Rudd concedes the move will not help all investment companies with liquidity problems.