Pity though
the saniflo
engineer
who came
to fix
my jobby chopping
mascerating
smallbore
flushing loo
There was a faraway, slightly numb look
in his stoic, travelled face.
“I cover Scotland West
he said “, on his knees
beside the pan.
“My tests
need expertise
and I’m the only one
bar Jim here….”
I glanced at the younger man..
that rare thing
an apprentice…
a man who would be king.
He was present in his future
alert, unblemished lean…
The king removed the filter
handed it him to clean…
I didn’t see him flinch an inch
which is not the same as me
I reeled from the violent assault
on my tuned olfactory….
and I left to find a clothes peg
then made a cup of tea.
An apprentice saniflo engineer
is not what I would choose
if the world were still my oyster
as my preferred career
but then its less competitive than most
somehow I imagine so
perhaps you can make a very fast buck
wash your hands of it and go
to the sunlit uplands of general plumbing
or sweet retirement
I don’t know….
I don’t know…