
At service or brexit
At Service or Brexit
by Alan Dunnett
In the timings is some dislocation.
All the cogs seem oiled. You pull and again
at the lever. Each day, it is harder,
sweating underground while the batteries
get low. Each day, the end-count is smaller.
There is a dull continuing. Hands reach
through the cage for bread at agreed hours.
On more occasions, the system is sunk
until the complainers are proved correct
but there is no exodus into light
and there is no contingency plan. Stuck
in a diminishing with bones turning
yellow, you pull at the lever, all pull
but nothing works. Silence starts, then is still.
Alix Emery, the artist who provided the brilliant accompanying image, lives and works in London. She has had work exhibited at Tate St Ives, Birmingham Hippodrome, The Truman Brewery, Tenderbooks, The House of Blah Blah, and PS Mirabel. She is in her final year, studying BA Fine Art, at Central Saint Martins.