it began in some dank cave,

rich the reach of human wit,

artefacts to make life easier,

from reservoirs to cess-pit

 

wombs warm, mostly safe,

then cots and stately prams,

family pews to plastic bags,

bottles of warming drams

 

harvest rain in your butts,

insurance of prison cells,

cracks in daddy's egg-cup,

minds like burning hells

 

walnut coffins and condoms,

piss-pots and rusty springs,

hyacinth-heaving planters,

aluminium tubes with wings

 

footballs for foolish heads,

brown envelopes for bungs,

butterflies in drab cocoons,

claustrophobia of iron lungs

 

constipating the Suez Canal,

blocked global trading veins,

no freighter ever harboured

what a human heart contains