Removals

The car waddled over the speed bumps
And entered the college car park,
Sitting low on its springs,
Weighed down with stuff
And expectations

We climbed the stairs
And saw the room -
Blank and unobjectionable,
Then ferried the awkward boxes up
Adding personality and clutter
By increments

In no time it was finished
We parted
I returned in an empty car
To an emptier house


19/9/11


[a revised and extended version of this poem appears in the new collection Removals]