Scaring Enemies Away [revised] Poem by Margaret Alice Second

Hurriedly left my work station ashamed to admit its
where I sit; a tornado couldn’t have wrought havoc
as effectively - & tomorrow is fumigation day! What
will the cockroach squad say, or those ponderous
security men accompanying them think when their

eyes greet one of my chairs covered with blankets,
scarves, two warm jerseys in ice-blue and a warm
hibiscus cerise, strings of beads, cardboard-tasting
packets of wholegrain rusks and awful cereal - will
I die if I eat all this after those poisonous fumes

did their bit and what of my dirty mug, my plate with
crumbs, will the dainty china blind them to the dirt;
what of the newspapers in a heap, hats, flowers &
trinkets - too many things to enumerate, at least no
spy seeking confidential government papers would

have the nerve to go through my stuff - everyone
shocked, even strong constitutions leaving the pre-
cincts scared of contracting hepatitis A and B from
my 3 day-tea-stained cup - nothing locked and still
no breach of protocol; I could be awarded a prize

for scaring the nations’ enemies away!