a very busy, very British day
I went outside
and lit up.
this gangly teenager
and an old white-haired woman,
they got up off the bench
and rushed me:
oh, on your break, are you? she said.
hard work, is it? he said. robbing your customers?
two pounds for four apples? she said. disgusting!
it’s disgusting, it is! he said.
I threw my freshly lit smoke on the ground
turned around
and went back in the shop.
they went back to their bench.
my colleague said:
you back already?
well in that case …
and I watched him
walk outside
and light up
as they got up off the bench
and rushed towards him.
©2020 Paul Tanner All rights reserved.
Paul Tanner has been earning minimum wage and hounding “the littles” about it for 15 years. His latest collection “Shop Talk: Poems for Shop Workers” was published by Penniless Press last year. His star sign is Libido. Hobbies include bombing, looting and colouring in.