You Could Write a Poem about This

In order to feel less disconnected, I carry evaluation forms for every occasion: How was breakfast? How appropriate was the weather to your mood? How satisfied are you with the ageing process? It’s a simple system of one star to five, in which three signifies ambivalence, one is obscured by a veil of tears, five is an apotheosis in the arms of wheeling angels, and two and four are just there to create the illusion of nuance where nuance no longer exists. I remember once, on a bench overlooking a cut glass sea, loaded on cider and home grown, Shelley told me poets were the unacknowledged legislators of the world; so, as a mark of respect, I send my completed forms to the Poet Laureate, with a list of suggestions to make everything better for everyone. It’s a comfort to know that my voice is being heard and that I’m proactively participating in innovation and change; but he never replies, so I score him one out of a possible five.

Oz Hardwick
Picture Nick Victor