ALL CHANNELS ALL NETS

back door diktat tsunami 

coffee-curtains morning-wide

NHS is stealth-sold emperors fast-fashion 

meat grinder
all channels
all nets

facts mangled in the truth grate

NI hatchbacks on fire
across the border-no-border sea

champagne pops on dead cherry hill

foam & fizz 

that could / should house the blanket damned

INBOX SADNESS

after
six
months
off
sick

i made it back
to my nhs desk

where the welcome back cards
were as absent
as the get well cards had been

and my inbox 
was truly
a wonder to behold

~

there was fear in their eyes

like my incompetence was catching

and my frequent meetings in HR

like
a
rash

that could spread

~

i limped on for another six months
part time and useless
a leper to the union

till i was let go
with a £40 gift card
and a £50 debt
from a payday mistake

after
11 or 12
years

of being the best there ever was

~

tens of thousands unread
in that inbox 

maybe a record

i
deleted
the
lot
that same day

and it felt like i struck a blow

against
some
undefinable
something

~

being let go by the nhs ?
very hard to achieve

but i did it

and everytime i look out
any of my back windows
i can see the hospitals admin tower

a blunt beacon
over
the
autumn forest

and i wonder
in vanity

if
anyone
looks
over this way for me

at all

from linkedin.com

NOT DANIEL CRAIG

so a guy comes 
to mend our inkjet 
and 
he 
looks like daniel craig 
or 
would 
if daniel craig 
had 
had 
a heart attack as a young man 
and 
a 
stroke 

he's in a three piece 
with 
cufflinks - for an NHS IT job!
and 
his 
collar is all scruffy 
and big 
and un-ironed 
and tatty 70s looking 

he 
puts 
his 
leather laptop bag down 
and 
he 
squats down to rummage 
in 
tray number two 

its a plastic universe in there 
and 
it 
hurts 
my 
head - the detail! 

it scream clunks like a ancient ruined Bentley 

these teeth 
he says 
these teeth wont engage 
and he digs in there with scissors 
they're facing the wrong way 
he says 

he is absorbed in the tiny detail of the world
that
i
wish
was as smooth
a mill pond water

so 
i 
focus on his cufflinks - so much detail crams the world! 

his cufflinks are simple silver squares 
so 
simple 
simple 
simple

simple smooth silver squares

JUMPING THRU HOOPS

they tell me
that 
of course they do not doubt
the 
validity
of my
reasons for sickness
and
that
i
am 
not suspected of skiving oh no
but
that i should think
about 
how 
if 
everyone had my sick record
then the hospital could hardly run

could 
it?

anyway
heres
a 
verbal warning
for
your
permanent file
and
the right to appeal 
inside
21 days

now if you'd like
to
wait
outside
we'll
give you a copy
of
this
meeting
on a compact cassette tape