Greeted with a glass

of what seemed cheaply made,

home induced, egg nog

at the door of my daughter’s school

by a woman with dust marks on her hair,

and the strange smell of child nerves

upon her weighted down shoulders,

deeper in debt, demoralised

and now having to greet

parents to whom their child is the star

of this off Broadway, local authority show.

 

Small talk surrounds the close fitting

chairs, designed for the uncomfortable

advances of an ice cream pot for child sized hands