POEM: The Oven

I wonder if the oven knew

that nothing had cooked?

Just set to pre-heat and left on by mistake.

A changed mind; a different dinner.

Switched off forty minutes later just as it was switched on:

Empty.

Enough time to heat up a meal,

using the same amount of energy,

but nothing to show for the effort.

And if the oven doesn’t know

when its time has been wasted,

and it’s purpose left unfulfilled,

do we?

POEM: Finding Me

The soil slowly shudders

Worms and spiders flee

Disturbance from below

As fingertips emerge

Grasping from the grave

And seeking hidden daylight

That’s me every July

As I finally take off the tie

Worn like a leash since September

Take off the suit and try to remember

Who it is I used to be

Before this job devoured me

Bursting from the grave

My hungry lungs drink deep the fresh air

I zombie-wander for six long weeks

Looking for me

Finding myself

Piece by piece

Until finally I feel human again

Just in time to be forced back down into the earth

Buried alive for another year