Tuesday

micropoems about mundane things

​​1. Washing Up (The Submission)
​Doing the dishes
Looking at my darkened reflection
In the rain streaked kitchen window
Baked on lasagna
Stuck to the tin
Back aches from bending
Wanna stretch out in bed
Once soapy water, now soupy with bits
Change it
Don't bother
No one will die
Probably

​2. Hoovering (The Compromise)
​Thank you China for my new robot vacuum cleaner
A tap on the app and it's done
While I lounge with a cushion comforting my back
This is the future they promised us
China's okay in my book
Except...

​3. Bin Day (The Realisation)
​"What is it this week?"
"Landfill I think—
Yeah, It was paper and card last week"
"I'll set a reminder on my phone—
For ever"

​4. Scrolling (Futility)
​Someone, somewhere, must have the fix—
For the hole in me.
Swipe.
​Past the false prophets and the hype,
The head-fucking insincerity
Of unregulated human sludge.
Swipe.
​Did I miss it?
The jewel?
In the brightly coloured trash?
Swipe.
​There's no end to this.
No jewel.
Just the swipe
The hole.
And the need.

5. Night Callers (The intervention)
Out there, in the cold air,
A stately and solemn duet
Pierces the silence of the night.
A hauntingly measured performance
Of refrain and response.
Her mournful plea
Dissolving into the frost,
A question left unanswered,
Hanging in the stillness.
Then his reply,
A reassuring lament
Of solitude and sorrow.
In disbelief she asks once more,
And again, from the blackthorn's heart
Her suitor's warm vibrato
Croons his one true note.
And from my sleepless eyes,
Quiet tears slip across my temples;
My heart halters
At the blind and tender tryst
And the faithful binding
Of their ancient covenant.
6. (Resolution)
As the the soft edge of sleep envelopes me
I hang between two worlds
The magic of the night
The trickery of day
Neither truly mine
But ours
And we must hold them closely
They are but seams
In the fabric of our universe