midsummer bus ride

There is nowhere to sit down on

This red London double decker bus

At 7.30 on a Saturday morning.

Seventy wage slaves are already sitting

And twenty more are standing

Between them they probably speak and understand

Thirty languages or more

But nobody says a word.

They all have long journeys behind them

And long journeys before them

Sucked into central London everyday

Like stars into a black hole

Or soap suds into a plughole,

To wait at tables,

To prepare food,

To fill shelves,

To mop dirty floors.

Now many are still half asleep or more

And some, waking up, might wonder

As dreams dissipate

Why am I selling my life

Second by second

For a shit wage?

But the bus rolls on

And, even at 7.35 am,
it's too late.

THE JOYS OF OFFICE EQUIPMENT

FILING CABINET

I am a filing cabinet,

I have four drawers

And I am not an ocelot

So I do not have padded paws

Or sharp, sharp claws

Or a beautiful spotted coat

So I don’t

Go out hunting across jungle floors

I just sit here

Rectangular and metallic,

Storing, storing, storing

It might seem boring to you

But it’s all I do, because

I am a filing cabinet,

HOLE PUNCH

If I was a hole punch,

I’d never be out to lunch

I’d be so legless that

I couldn’t go to the cafė

All I’d eat is little paper circles,

No paninni, no salad, no baguettes

No cappucinno, no lattė for me,

Not even a short shot of espresso

Unless some silly office worker,

Spills it on me.

So I’d be underfed and caffeine free

And I’d subsist 

Very quietly,
On little paper circles,

Only making a creaking sound,

When I got pressed down

Otherwise,

I’d just sit there.

STAPLER

I am a capable stapler

Very capable and cabapler than

A pin or a paper clip

Of fixing sheets of paper together

Not forever

But for just long enough

Because that is what

I am capable of.

If I was a shredder

If I was a shredder

Life would be better

I wouldn’t have to worry

About my diet

I’d just eat paper

And I’d just shit paper

And I wouldn’t have be

Very quiet

I’d just go NYAZZZZ

Every time I ate and shit paper

If I was a shredder

Life would be better

‘Cause NYAZZZZ

Is all I’d have to say.