Bureaucrats by Garry Gottfriedson

Bureaucrats sit neatly hunched behind plush marble desk tops
clustered with paper and pictures and day old carnations
with knuckle white fingers tightly clasped around papermates
skidding and scraping across someone’s future
AND

WHEN

SOMEONE '

goes to see them quiet and concerned about their future
they stare like a crazy cartoon cat would
with a shiny civilized smile and licking their lips and wagging their
hands
feeling important just before striking
AND

WHEN
| THEY
STRIKE

they stand fully exposed in their outdated english garb
smelling like they just arrived from france japan or india;
they breathe wildly if questioned,
as if they are ready to choke.
DON‘T
STAND

TOO CLOSE

because their mouthwash lingers like raw fish and wine

Those bureaucrats are a weird bunch

huffing and puffing and chasing away
anyone who dares to visit them.

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