Dead Day at the Office(CPlatt) In between Christmas and New Year
the office is open for what
management assure the staff
is a normal working day.

Those who have not saved
enough holidays, or have to
cover for those who booked
Christmas off first,
trudge into the office,
feeling as festive as
a broken clock.

The clock on the wall is stuck
at ten to eleven
and we’re here until four.
Drinking cups of tea,
checking empty email inboxes
for new emails and to answer
phones that do not ring.

All office conversation and small-talk
has been exhausted.
We know who had a good
Christmas, who got roaring drunk
on Boxing Day,
who had a cold all over the holidays,
who burnt the turkey.
Nothing to do and
nothing to say and
four hours left of our shift.

The world will not return
to normal until next week,
next year.
But we are here.
But we are here.

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