Made in Japan

Nissan announces Sunderland jobs bonanza as new model is unveiled

Sunderland Echo, 6 March 2012

My small hands held the present like

a beating heart in a jar. I placed it on the hearth rug

and peeled its shiny layers away. My own space capsule!

(Batteries not included. Made in Japan.)

My small town had two museums

where the tourists went. They came with cameras

fixed to their faces. They took their money back to London.

(They had long lenses. They came from Japan.)

My first car was a Datsun which I drove

into the ground. It turned to rust on the street outside

and I had to pay the scrap man a tenner before he’d tow it away.

(Replacement parts were cheaper from Japan.)

My small corner shop would collapse without Nissan.

The wages my customers spend are sent from Japan.

(c) 2012 Slush Poet