"Having a Butchers"

　

I caught you
Staring at me
From on the wall
At the Festival Hall.
Well bully for you
A dissected cow
Colours for cuts
You could have been from
Behind the counter at Kennedys
Above the trays of sausages.
If you hadn't been
Surplus to requirements
On South London's dinner tables
Long time ago.
Thank you Mr. Tesco.
No more steak or rump for you
Just cuts of a poem.
Nothing wrong with that
But not as tasty.
So from left to right:
Simile. Linebreak. Rhythm.
Metre. Register. Symbolism.
Rhyme. Metaphor.
There you have it-
Poetry in a nutshell.
Well if you say so.
Don't want to beef
It's all words to me.

Dulwich Poet 30th May 2013

(There was a poster work of art on the wall, outside the Poetry Library, based on a traditional poster of butchers cuts of meat on a cow)