Day Off
Vultures don’t fly on Sundays,
it’s their day off.
No use saying you’d like to see them
flying about, they won’t do it,
haven’t for ages.
I can tell you where they are –
they’re down by the disused railway
hanging out, walking up and down
in an ungainly way,
talking about this and that –
subjects of vulture interest.
Some of them play cards
and board games
to stop them getting bored
– see what I did there?
I’m told that ‘Disarticulate’
is a current favourite.
One thing’s sure,
they never cheat
– wouldn’t want to get themselves
a bad name.
And the rubbish? It can rot.
They don’t care.
They’re not particularly religious,
but surely, after soaring about
the sky six days a week
looking for filth to eat,
you’re entitled to a day off?
Philip Dunkerley is active at open mic events and runs a poetry group in South Lincolnshire. He reviews for Orbis and his poems and translations from Spanish and Portuguese have appeared in magazines, webzines and anthologies.