I am at work and I wish to be elsewhere.

At the Seminar

I

An electronic blip from house-martins as they pass
an open window at the conference centre; frantic birds,
on errands of mercy, transporting relief supplies to tricorn beaks.
We sneak a glance at our mobiles for text messages.

Crawling across the hotel lawn, sun puts mist in the shade:
a transparent morning now, our vision unhindered for miles.
A golfing party, armed with a quiver of clubs, aims
for the bull's-eye of the first hole; others, near a pool
blue as our EU flag with its water sparkle of stars, dry off:
shrink-wrapped in towels, they sink back into resort chairs.

II

For serious objective reasons, we are informed, our keynote
speaker is delayed; the Chairman's interpreted words
are relayed simultaneously through headphones:
In order to proceed to a profitable guidance for our work
which will be carried out with a feature of continuity and priority . . .

I see the lake basking in its own reflected glory, self-absorbed,
imagine turquoise dragonflies, wings wide as wedding hats,
fish with scarlet fins, water-walking insects.

I intervene. I associate myself with the previous speaker's views.
Discussions go on in all our languages at once, as we unscrew
still mineral water, bottled at some local beauty spot.
Certain administrations suffered cuts as they weren't entrusted
with new attributions likely to fill in the logistical gap
resulting from the inference of the frontierless economic area . . .

In two hours (less, if with luck that stupid clock has stopped)
our final workshops will convene in the break-out rooms.
Then it will be time to draw conclusions at the plenary,
to score evaluation forms, return to our respective floors
to dress down for the bus tour of the Old Town.

III

Now the rapporteurs start synopsising
the workshop findings on felt-tip flip-charts.
The Chairman is summing up: New challenges
overlook the world scenery in our global stance . . .

Lily pads strut across the lake like stepping stones;
fish risk an upward plunge; martins plucking
sustenance from thick air lunge at their mud nests.
Hold the world right there. Don't move a single thing.

-- Dennis O'Driscoll

*

Coffee Science

The scientific principle on which coffee works is thus:
People like to feel the blood crank.
To wheel and carp.
Speed up time.
Whirl veins.
Even the richest man enjoys
a golden goose, dangling coins, pulling the
slot machine amphetamine
handle of wealth.
The sweet brown juice of Buddha.
The hot cup of Jesus Joe.
The Java, Java witch hunt of the Catholic
sugar and cream.
Coffee if it were a drug, golden eggs would only purchase.
A demi cup, a piccolo, a pinch of crystal grounds.
Coffee was a drug, before drugs, were drugs.
So Mama please do not let your babies grow up to drink tea.
She has coffee breath, we kiss, I taste the bohemian
splendor of her Borneo, Kona blend.
Hold on to your berets, my goatee is on fire.
I'm captain cappuccino. I'm speaking espresso Esperanto.
Drink, drink, drink, maties. Starbuck started out with
Ahab in the search for the white leviathan now
He is a meager-chain of coffee klatches encircling the globe.
World domination? No, world caffination.
That's the secret, speed up the neurotransmitters,
Racing through the synapse like a loose fright train,
Release some endorphins, that's the magic
In the test tube, the reason you reach for the
Black hole, cupa, cupa, cupa Tesla's coil.
Who put the fee in coffee?
Who put the EE in we?
Who put this tea in front of me?
I prefer the ear in beer, are you listening?
I drink it to forget all the bad coffee in the world.

-- Gary Mex Glazner

*

Poem written half-asleep in an office meeting

The guys up on the beams
make
rain

i see them from my
office
window

welding metal into
place

sparks
falling

like blinking
embers
in a forest

The buildings
stand like
trees

they too, fall with
the passing of
time

The rain makers
wear metal
hats

and the soup boils
in the kitchen

and the wives
cry

and the sun
falls over the
moon

The rain
makers

rise

and fall

again

-- Tony Robles