Work World 1996 - NaPoWriMo I remember poem Day 28

Work World 1996

Miss Bean, Purple Hair, Chubby digits,

Brazen Hussey, Hairband.

The loving nicknames of my first job.

Shaun and Bryan playing Who’d you rather?

with the famous and the real,

Sarah Q’s clock-watching,

being mothered by the two Sues,

Kate’s scathing

and Mad Max’s hair that was even bigger than mine

I remember Ian’s beard and his quiet ways of management

Christmas Eve old style- One hour’s work,

two hours in The Vine, lots of food

and enough beer to make us dizzy.

back to share a bottle of smoky Valpolicella

staff-room stuffed with light, people, buffet food and 12 packs!

One hour lunches and two half hour breaks every day.

My lab coats were never white long

taking up the crystal violet and scarlet safranin stains

I remember commandeering the Media Room,

and feeling essential.

I remember the satisfying crunch of the antibiotic disc dispensers.

being surprised how many people smoked.

being shocked so many people gave blood.

Chatting up the autoclave man from Skelmersdale,

the infertility samples left unlabelled on the counter

and the embarrassed men I had to chase after to label them.

I remember crying at my interview

I had failed Uni, lost my first boyfriend

and had to find a job in the same week.

I remember the faeces pot that exploded on Day 2

(even though we had to keep them 3)

Mr Mal Teaser’s sample on April Fool’s day

the amputated toe no-one wanted to cultivate.

the pregnancy tests I predicted

the coagulation that meant new life

and no way of knowing if this means joy or despair.

I remember wondering which plates

to assign to a vaginal vault (after a transgender op)

needs pruning and elaborating, I think!
NaPoWriMo - Day 28  Notes and memories really, but I have another two to type tonight, I am passing on the tree one as I will have followed 30 prompts anyway, but will try to fashion a clerihew and a clapping rhyme now. Thanks everyone x