[Above: Autumn in Winchester – Stock]
The Litterman
Town-ward, on busy Romsey Road
Pavements brown and ochre leaf-adorned
Just like clockwork………along he comes
Supermarket carrier-bags to the fore
Must cleanse, protect, perfect the surface
The surface of the remains of his mind
Whilst a lifetime psychological condition
Robs his social dignity, blind
Park-and-Riders peer through dirty glass
Amused at the early morning Vaudeville
Innuendo-laden comments pass
On this spectre laid-bare for their private thrill
It’s an important job, to perform to perfection
A task so immense, as he remains intense
Street flotsam and jetsam evade collection
So many leaves offering leeward resistance
Yet-more work for the bag-meister
As late-autumnal trees still spawn
More biological deadweight anti-matter
Whilst another West-Downs winter dawns
Bus tickets and fag-ends get caught up
Untidy Dolphins in a Tuna net
As Superman might say: “I’m just doing my job”
Collateral damage, in the great leaf-collect.
Copyright, Jody Redmires, 2015