Poem: And beep beep beep

Your smell reminds me
of the freshly baked bread
that keeps sitting in my air.
Invading but I don’t mind at all.

You look like you need directions
to the health and beauty section.
Lips barely parted, you steal a
split-second smile as I say
‘isle nineteen, Sir’.

An old man babbles ‘you look fed up’
he’s come to cheer me up with
nonsense and he rattles on,
choking me into a counterfeit giggle
while thinking
of how many times I’ve been told this
so far today.

Your bag of sugar is ripped and
out it escapes
like a waterfall, bright into the
bitter world.
You talk at me like I owe you something.
With a pinched tongue, my words are feathers
stroking your ears as you demand
I fetch you a wine carrier
to make your alcohol problem
easier.

‘I don’t know what the hell is wrong with you’
he said,
I tried to keep calm
because plastic is just plastic
and eyes like a lost child
aren’t that pretty anymore.

I help you to the café ,
get your coffee with extra cream
and I’ll sit watching the clock flick back
to 14:05 and sigh as you
stir up a dream until
it‘s cold.

I’m moving slow, like old cotton sheets.
Hung out and ready to be replaced.
A special offer
may make life fresh for
a night or two.

A tick tocking time bomb
Until I am gone.