interview

A poem of a questionable nature

Selected poems

The Question

Erm, well – I begin, shifting nervously in my chair – 
if it’s true there is no heaven and no hell,  
no eternity or long hereafter,  
no divine plan or offstage direction from an invisible hand, 
then how do we make sense of it all, 
how do we make our way through this life,
this glorious, ridiculous, ramshackle world of ours, 
with its wars and brutality, conflicts and petty arguments, 
the ten thousand tiny acts of kindness  
which happen unnoticed before breakfast, 
and all that love and pain, happiness and loneliness 
that comes to us unannounced, by turns,  
as if we ourselves were pitched daily  
onto the waves of one of its vast, mysterious oceans, 
not knowing whether today is the day we drown 
or we find ourselves washed up  
on some strange but friendly shore? 

Mmm – you say, after a lengthy silence – 
what I meant was … do you have any questions  
about the job? 

A poem in which I interview a cat

Selected poems

Job Interview with a Cat

Tell me, what is it about this position that interests you? 
The warmth, perhaps? The security? 
Or the power you must feel by rendering me useless? 
Feel free to expand if you wish. 

I see you have had experience of similar positions. 
Can you talk about a time when you got somebody’s tongue? 
Or were set amongst the pigeons? 
Tell me about a time you’ve had to deal with a difficult situation –
for instance, have you ever found yourself in a bag?
If so, how were you let out of it?  

How would you feel if you had to walk on hot bricks?  
What about a tin roof of similar temperature?  
With reference to any of your past lives,  
has curiosity ever killed you? 

Finally, where do you see yourself in five years’ time? 
In the same position? Or higher up to catch the sunlight? 
What’s that? You would like to be where I am now? 
Oh, it appears you already are.