Perfect Windsor - May 2 2023

 

Perfect Windsor

May 2 2023

The commute he knew

like a blinkered horse

trudging through its milk-run,

starting and stopping

all by itself.

The same office as before.

With its familiar smell

of stale coffee

and that noxious perfume

the bookkeeper wore.

The desk

just as messy as he'd left it

and would leave it once more.

And the chair,

with the annoying wobble

he kept vowing to get fixed,

but for now

just shimmied again.

Lunch hour

as usual.

Peanut butter on white,

sliced banana,

diet Coke.

Crunchy, of course.

And, as always, office attire;

grey suit, or navy blue,

tasteful black brogues.

Only the tie was different,

a bright Hawaiian

or some gaudy novelty,

if not cartoonish

then at least provocative.

There were racks of them

in his tidy little closet,

outlandish ties

picked out like prizes

from yard sales he chanced upon

second-hand stores.

And every weekday morning

for as long as memory serves

he knotted a perfect Windsor

before heading out.

His hands, well-practised

before the bathroom mirror,

bright blue eyes

glinting subversively back.

The small act of rebellion

of a company man.

A middle finger

to middle managers,

and a conspiratorial wink

to whatever office mate

secretly felt the same.