The Building Supervisor

Annie Wysham

I’m off to buy a hard hat
And some steel-capped tradies’ boots,
Fluorescent coat and overalls,
Protective clothing that will suit.
I’ll also get a reflector vest
And other safety gear,
Goggles with a faceguard,
I’ll want earplugs too I fear!
I’ll need a nice tall ladder
With a platform for the view
As one neighbour is rebuilding
And the other will renew.
One home is being bowled over,
The other’s going up,
With me smack in the middle –
Or am I in a rut?
I’ll apply to get my Union card
And join the CFMEU,
Learn how to go on strike,
So I’ll need to pay my dues.
Might trade in my grey Golf
And get myself a Ute,
A 4-wheel drive, with alloy wheels,
A black, dual-cab, big brute!
Safety signs and stickers
Are on my shopping list,
‘Safety first’s’ my motto
And nothing must be missed.
A building supervisor’s role
Is right up my busy street,
As I watch two houses come to life
In full view…from my window seat!

‘The Building Supervisor’ is a poem I wrote when the lovely old Edwardian house on the south side of my place was being demolished, and the block denuded of a well-established garden. Ultra-modern townhouses were then built on the site with pocket-handkerchief gardens. On my North-West corner a single unit had an upstairs edition added over a six-month period and the garden re-landscaped. There were tradesmen to the left of me and tradesmen to the right and also up my driveway – which they used to gain access to the townhouse! I was stuck in the middle and felt under siege. Hence I needed to lighten the load with some humour and a little poetic license… so penned ‘The Building Supervisor’.