Our Lady

of Perpetual Tension
intercede for me
when the dehumidifier
kicks the bucket 

& there’s nowhere else to go
but Tamaki
hunting for head-office
‘up the stairs – just ask for Craig’ 

a girl xeroxing
in her tracksuit bottoms
her colleague who can’t work
the cash machine 

Our Lady of Perpetual
anxiety
when the calendar
skips two beats 

two months’ marking
jammed into two days
Our Lady
when you find you’ve got to buy 

those spines you eyed up
hours before
then get to K Rd
half a quark too late 

the bus doors
are wedged open
the men in silver suits
unzip their skin