by yer gums

you peeked your head out

above the newspaper like a meercat:

“ooh,” you emitted a squeaky tone of pleasant surprise,

“the factory’s having an open induction day!”

and looked at her,

waiting for her to express

equally welcome shock

but she said nothing. she was rolling a rollup

in deep concentration, tongue poking out and everything

and you realised it was one of

the most depressingly clichéd northern sentences you’d ever uttered,

which was up against some pretty stiff competition.

it was with some relief

that you left her to it

and when at last she got the thing lit

and finally deigned to respond with “uh?”

you said “nothing.”

or, you said nothing,

as in: you didn’t say anything

or: nothing worth repeating.

it is what

it is

or isn’t

or whatever

as you remember that you’re too poetic

for factory work

and ask her to roll one for yourself.