Stuff
There’s a catalogue of things
you’re meant to own.
That week we focused
on a fridge, a kettle, a toaster.
Not just any toaster –
six slots, duck egg blue,
brioche rack included.
When it arrived, too big
for the worktop, we imagined
a bigger kitchen, then
a bigger house.
The loans outlived the toaster.
Maybe it helped us
get through the slow grey of work –
but if we’d spent less,
we’d have worked less.
We chose that toaster.
And when we got it home,
it settled in so well
with all our other stuff
it felt like it had chosen us.
*
Paul Bavister has published three collections of poetry with Two Rivers Press. His work has appeared in Butcher’s Dog, Dark Winter and Dream Catcher. His poem, Starlings came highly commended in the RSPB/Rialto poetry competition.
