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Sunday morning, I saw it for myself,
first in the distance like some mirage:
a supermarket in occupation
of what in olden times was wholly church!
I saw the life of Monday to Saturday
unrelinquished linger there: I looked
more closely to identify the deed
that defied-- the extra-ordinariness!
I perceived battle-weariness no longer,
but the twenty-four-hour-seven-days-
a-week presence of computer-age time
relentlessly whirr its people printout!
I felt the momentum of a generation,
equations of crime and punishment;
witnessed a covenant with the people
established here in the precedent!
And then, I too had joined the tide,
shaking and sturdy like a supermarket
trolley; or Concorde on the other side
of the barrier, breaking the sound law!
I trimmed my sail to a prevailing
wind, difficult and gusty, you might say
uncertain; but it earned me
a cream cake and a lot of experience!
You see, I felt it commonly expressed,
this is what we are, what we've actually
become - and it's catching: no disrespect
intended, but it suits us to the ground!
But as I left, I smelt a rat: was it
imagination? - The carrier bag
dangled from my fingers, and in its pressure
I felt the assurance of a handshake!
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