Murdering Turtles at the Food Bank
Food bank queue,
degree folded in her back pocket
as the four by fours
snake their emissions behind them.
Drivers supping tea stewed from biodegradable tea bags,
cradled in bamboo cups.
She forks mandarin segments into tupperware,
charading superficial freshness
in the children’s lunchboxes.
School running on an empty stomach,
playground grit scorching the holes in her soles.
Cake Sale Friday.
Wooden sieves to sift unbleached flour,
whisked with butter,
churned from the milk of swollen oats.
Food bank queue,
degree folded in her back pocket
she scrabbles for life in a bag for life
sagging with uniformed vegetables
tinkling a slush of additives and salty brine.
Turtles choking on custard cream wrappers.
Five pound stretched ozone thin
Two pound fifty for that funny milk
curdling her coffee.
A penny for thoughts
strangled with conflict and plastic.
Michelle Davey is a poet, teacher and radio presenter from East London. She blogs as The Cockney in the Countryside and hosts the podcast Let’s Talk Autism.
Rough Diamond Poetry 