747
By Fiona Wright
Published 26 October 2023
I've heard that air hostesses
get paid cosmetic leave
if their skin becomes contentious
and the resulting pustuled pimples
can't be magically made over
with a blob of black eyeliner
into a beauty spot.
The march, pink-lipped, high-heeled, dry-cleaned
down the narrow aisles
and I can't help but think of a cloned army,
robotic, ice-maiden cold, and deadly
advancing behind their drink-cart artillery
ready to clobber any caught
smoking in the shoebox toilets.
Their incessant battle cry echoes and amplifies:
"Chicken or beef?"
"Chicken or beef?"
"Chicken or beef?"