An Ikea Experience

Fourteen of us flat-packed into a lift

barely enough room for us all, more claustrophobic than cosy

all silently watching the floor numbers counting upwards

as if the only way to ensure we reach the correct destination is to monitor that meter mutely

and just like the delivery of a new dining suite we all disembark at the same floor

leaving the lift lacking and empty

except for a child’s shoe.

(There’s always some small part left over after assembly.)

Mark Chimes