Fifty Shades of My Day – July 2012

Fifty Shades of My Day

i have always shared office space
with women
i do not mean to generalise
but it is different
to working with, ‘guys’
they talk as if i am not there
when i roll my eyes
and they turn their focus on me
you don’t mind us swearing,
do you really, they say
then i sit through the giggles
it is fifty shades of my day
they think i am shy
and think i never set foot in a world
of smut, smear or lear
and we never exchange
the tread patterns of our tears
why would we, i am male, right?
i am the minority,
and they go from mother,
to deep, deep smother
and when they talk to me
the laughter erupts
before the sentence has reached its end
but, conversely,
women have always been my friends
away from the rippling, ‘macho man’
who never accept, ‘men like me’
raised by a woman,
secured that side emotionally




James Garratt – July 2012