Winter Shift
A small sheen of adopted
frost against ice, which casts
the last shine of this borrowed
labour. Many more complaints
endured before noon; the keyboards
and headsets gathered dust and despondency.
The mist strangles this horizon,
like each disgruntled customer
to our ear, our politeness is now a virtue
which none of us consider advantageous.
The air conditioning blows ice and fire.
a contrast which sits well with our predicament.
And as the whole of middle England
vents its repressed frustrations
like an uneven stitch through what’s
left of this shift. Our boredom finally
thaws and leaves another pile of pennies
in our wake.
©2023 Jonathan Butcher All rights reserved.
Jonathan Butcher has had work appear in various print and online publications including: Popshot, Mad Swirl, Cajun Mutt Press, Ink,Sweat & Tears, The Rye Whisky Review, The Transnational and others. His fourth chapbook ‘Turpentine‘ was published by Alien Buddha Press. He is also the editor of online poetry journal Fixator Press.