by Michael McGill
Enjoy this series of five short poems by Michael McGill that illuminate our everyday occupations. ‘Occupational Poetry’ will run first on Twitter (@AnElephantNever), and we will add each poem here as it runs.
The chocolatier.
Great chocolate should taste like climbing warm rocks, naked. Or returning home; a woollen throw on a wooden chair.
The tobacconist.
I stutter face to face but on the phone, I flourish. Clients prefer me here: my theatre of sound. In the wings, I exhale silent nicotine…
The reporter.
I dreamt, in decades eclipsed, of bringing life to words; of bringing fire to the frozen. Today, I transcribe the dead prose of politicians.
The beautician.
At the station today, a colleague kissed me on the cheek. It really took me by surprise! As my train departed, I touched my face and smiled.
Michael McGill is a UK-based writer from Edinburgh, Scotland who has recently had work published in Funhouse Magazine, Far Off Places, New Walk and The Haiku Quarterly. Follow him on Twitter @MMcGill09 and or Instagram handle at michael7209. He has also recently had a short piece included in the Lies, Dreaming podcast.