VI

As the La Trobe students gathered
and mulled about out the front
of the cafe, their cigarettes
slowly polluting the morning air
Lewi's body was turned,
a piece of bark flicked
from his cheek
by a sergeant in a shirt
that pulled too tightly under his armpits.

The sound of the full body zip
crisp
shuddered over the brown river.
A female constable turned her face away
and thought of her son
and tried not to think about
the onyx coloured bruises
ornate upon the unbroken skin
of the neck.

Probably drug related
they all thought, because it made them feel safe
and far away
he probably deserved it
if it was drug related.

Someone turned a La Trobe student ID
over in their plastic gloved
hands
Lewis White Bundoora
he's from Melbourne
"shit shit shit"
lift the body bag into the ambulance
"I do not want to make that phone call."