When The Threat of Hell Failed
God created the lanyard,
made his errant offspring under-managers,
then sat in reception with his badge printer
twanging his blanks.
Man became the shine of the plastic,
the snick-snack of the badly made clip,
the dangle of the dura-weave ribbon
in twilight blue.
Oh, he could clock in,
he could access controlled areas,
he could feed on the bleep of the bar code scanner
that knew his true name.
At night, he might choose to sleep naked
fingering his proud lamination,
or he could roll up like a kitten,
his roar lost.
Nina Parmenter lives in the rural Southwest of England. A huge science fiction fan, her poems explore the surreal and improbable, alongside themes of nature, the environment and womanhood. Nina’s first collection, Split Twist, Apocalypse, was published in 2022. X: @ninaparmenter Instagram: @nina.parmenter