POETIC LICENCES

 

Some time ago
               studying,
                  as one does,
the New Zealand Immigration Occupational Priority list

I noticed the absence of
                                    poets.

 

Bankers,
                  accountants,
                        anyone with ‘experience of marketing’

are gladly welcomed.

Special dispensations for computer experts,
they may even pay the fare.

 

And not just them,
                  but other trades and skills,
                        even
                                   (and here I must admit to choking)
                                               qualified television repair men.

 

But not poets.

I am absolutely certain,
                  I took the time to double check,
                                 because it surprised me.

You see,
                  I hadn’t known till then,
                  about their poetic surplus.

 

I still thought of creating a furore,
a public outcry,
a newsy nuisance.
But hearing this, a poet friend rang up in panic.
‘Don’t blow the gaffe, we’re getting in.
Mostly as better’s other halves,
though some I’ve heard,
are using dentistry as cover’.