songbird me
alone on a branch
of my family’s tree

inherited songs
contemporary tunes
seeks permanent audience

slave to currency
is genial reward

i work with
testosterone fuelled
apprentices … mechanical;
i can feel the
dominant males -
hairs bristling
on my neck;
their careless ways
first through third year
diminishing by degrees
as they steel
themselves for
uncertain manhood

i watch
deft fingers
latch onto complex
production machines
laid open with
arrogant skill –

strict guidelines
for reparation;
sign-on/sign-off

indentured papers?

‘insufficient servicing’,
cry petulant maidens!

First published by Emerald Publishers (#1 of ‘3 workplace poems’)
in “Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal”,
March 2020

i work
as a cleaner –
factory floor

annually
my implements
are replaced with newer products

breakages
must be reported

complaints must be aired to my manager

in my job
i have learned
it doesn’t pay to be smarter than the broom

red earth\raw material\once forged\it is literal;

see the arc\feel the heat\shape the product\without mishap
know its strength - paternal and rigid;

leader in its field\stainless steel\unbeatable\hardened\toughened
and fully drilled;

australian mettle?

new age prattle!