Almanac Poetry: Unsolved Murder at the Fun-o-Rama
[Source: Wikimedia Commons/Maksym Kozlenko]
Unsolved Murder at the Fun-o-Rama
The Fun-o-Rama,
a corrugated
iron shed near a pub,
had a rough, hand-painted sign
signalling its entrance.
Old pinball machines
lined each side wall.
At the far end was a booth
which framed the sullen bulldog head
of the owner.
As kids, this was a place to avoid:
local gangs held sway.
One humid, rain-spattered night,
just before closing time,
a ferret-faced teenage boy
(his police identikit stared
from the front page of next day’s paper) entered.
No other patrons were there.
He stabbed the sullen man to death
with a screwdriver,
then wandered into a life unknown.
(Acknowledgements: previously appeared in my second poetry collection, Lionheart Summer, Picaro Press, 2011; reprinted by Ginninderra Press, 2018.)
Read more from Kevin Densley HERE
Kevin Densley’s latest poetry collection, Sacredly Profane, is available HERE
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Kevin Densley is a graduate of both Deakin University and The University of Melbourne. He has taught writing and literature in numerous Victorian universities and TAFES. He is a poet and writer-in-general. His sixth book-length poetry collection, Isle Full of Noises, was published in early 2026 by Ginninderra Press. He is also the co-author of ten play collections for young people, as well as a multi Green Room Award nominated play, Last Chance Gas, published by Currency Press. Other writing includes screenplays for educational films.
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