Poetry: Metal Cable Cabinet

Metal Cable Cabinet

As ice put a polish on the town he searched
for somewhere to bed down and found
a space between the post office and
the green metal cabinet that hummed
with internet connectors and as each street
settled to play online games and stream TV
the cables inside the cabinet kicked out heat
as he stared up the wall to three bright stars
then almost everyone shut down their laptops
and the cabinet cooled until it was only
a couple of late-night porn freaks sending
surges of warmth through the cables
that got him past the coldest hours
until the supermarket opened
and he came back to life in the toilet
with splashes of warm water
and a blast from the drier.

 

 

 

 

 

Paul Bavister has published three collections of poetry with Two Rivers Press. His work has appeared in Butcher’s Dog, Dark Winter and Dream Catcher. His poem, Starlings came highly commended in the RSPB/Rialto poetry competition.