Always under the COSHH

By Mark Cowan

Highly Commended, ‘Written Word’ Category

(COSHH stands for ‘Control of Substances Hazardous to Health’ – regulations that apply to how cleaning chemicals are stored and used)

The same helping hands mop,
sweep and wipe. Always bleaching,
forever reaching into hidden gaps,
under sinks and taps.

Always under the COSHH. No sooner
are the footprints erased than a new
set appears. Everyone brings
the outside in; coffee cups and ingrained
stains, melted slush and pouring rain.

The job is never done.

The same helping hands never grasp
the summit. The peak and the climb is always
within arms reach, only for the gradient to be sharpened
by errant toilet paper strewn on floors and
finger prints on walls and doors.

The same helping hands always need a handle
on the situation for it is everyone else's job to
undo your good work. The toilet is clean because it is.
The office bins are empty because they are.
The carpets are spotless but rarely spotted.

The same helping hands

scrub

and wipe

and shine as you may,
your work is most noticed
when not completed.
The same helping hands hold things together in
all kinds of weather.

The same helping hands.

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Written Word ‘Hand’ poems