LAUGHING GAS

My early morning walk through the wildflower meadow
Has turned into an impromptu litter-pick
Beside an inadequate-looking receptacle
Overflowing with the excesses of a sunny weekend
I chat to my brand new friend, Mick*
As he bags up the cans and plastic bottles
The ice cream wrappers and the fast food cartons
The park attendant tells me he's just cleared up a chuckle of laughing gas canisters
Strewn across the car park where the Old Barn** used to be
Before it was set ablaze in an arson attack
Mick likes his job more than I was expecting
The Council is currently paying him full-time wages for part-time work
Mick's loving his long afternoons in the garden
Lying in a hammock with a beer or three
Courtesy of the UK taxpayer
This is especially interesting to know as England stares down the barrel of Austerity 2.0
Laughable really!

[*Mick's identity has been protected for obvious reasons]
[**The Old Barn was erected by the Cadbury family in the 1920s]