Cost Benefit Analysis
Imagine walking into a deserted corridor
without the fear of cobwebs catching
in your hair or in your face.
Imagine running a bath without the need to
check first that there are
no occupants already.
Imagine sleeping at ease, no panic
that you will be unexpectedly joined
by an eight-legged cohabitant.
Now
Imagine a warm day, with food
left out, coated in bluebottles,
rendering it at best hazardous.
Imagine clothes with nibbled holes, where
moth larvae have tucked in, unhampered
by a natural predator.
Imagine each corner of the house, dust
piled high, settled without being
suspended from a sticky filigree net.
And put down the shoe, the vacuum
cleaner, the newspaper, and learn
to appreciate benefits.
Nikki Fine is a former English teacher who now writes, sings and directs with local amateur groups. She has had work published in The Interpreter’s House and The Oxford Magazine, and self-published a poetry collection on the theme of quantum physics.