In the swish hotel lobby
flight attendants do a kind of happy dance.
Freshly showered and shaved,
they are ready for the airport bus.
Then it’s up, up and away:
Champagne, smoked salmon
and stroking for first class,
a smile and mixed nuts for economy.
Outside, life bats the double glazing
like a summer blowfly.
Near the gleaming brass revolving door
a man and his dog are camped.
There’s water in a stainless steel bowl,
a corrugated placard describing hard luck,
and an upturned hat with a smattering of coins.
Next to him a cleaner polishes his pane.