THE GREAT NORTHERN

“It’s so meaningless to eat!” ~ Frank O’Hara, Music (Lunch Poems)

It’s so meaningless to eat!
When I have £5 in my account
When this train is so dirty
With fingerprints of sausagy sauce
Smudged on the window and the
Squeaky metal table
(Not the most plant-based of surroundings)
The station we’re pulling into is
Dirty too
And even Bill Evans on my earbuds
Can’t dissolve the deep disgust
Of eating this WHSmith vegan sushi
With my fingers
     I’m afraid his plunking piano
     Might have to be assisted by a
     Glorious Boots wet wipe
          Who’ll sting my nostrils
          With alcohol
          sharp like a syringe