polyester fabrications

 Stubborn as I was I pulled the narrowboat that
  Carried the coal that fueled the smelters
   That drove the industrial revulsion

     Now I tow a party of merrymakers smug in
      Suburban comfort partaking of narrow foods
       Bread sticks, linguini, banana splits

        Wrapped around my belly an umbilical rope
          Channeling the boat's inviting incandescence
           Bringing on a bulimic rush that can't be sated


           Gorged innards can take no more
          The rope edges up my torso to my neck
         Swelling an already swollen head

       Until it arrives at a girth of no return
      Bursting in a shower that catches the
     Narrowboaters by mild surprise

    Scurrying up to collect laundry
  They curse acid rain for soiling
 Sheet-white lives... Burning holes in
Polyester fabrications


© 2004 Joseph Dias