Two Shades of a Raindrop

mixed feelings. i get them a lot. like headaches

or an itchy ear. mixed feelings are a cloud and i know

that cloud is a popular word these days, especially in IT,

but I don’t like it. cloud is a weather word.

it’s two shades of a rain drop. it’s grey in there.

for example, one bloke said “you don’t get as

much respect as you get old” and i felt sad for him.

experience deserves respect, right? surely. it seems obvious.

ho no. some managers prefer to hire bean counters

and buy coffee machines than keep on “that Stan”

who is “part of the furniture” and who can answer

any question you put to him about the state of the business.

nah mate. he’s expensive. and he doesn’t make coffee.

imagine the savings if we make him redundant?

so bang. encyclopedia Stan is swept from the shelves

to make way for the woke young espresso machine.

seem easy? ah but that’s only one shade of a raindrop.

here’s the other. a young boy – maybe fourteen – is debating

with his mother. his voice is plaintive rather than angry

and he says “your generation is ruining everything for our generation”

oh Shakespeare. i need you here to find the words to make the tears

run. they should run. King Lear’s cries should rent the storm-beaten air

because this boy is so right. and i am sadder for him than for

encyclopedic Stan. because Stan has lived and been respected.

this boy’s life was never respected… not even before he was born.