The Middle Class in the Launderette as Pandas at the Zoo
At first they’re wide-eyed
and insufferably cute:
the light is more
than expected,
surroundings unfamiliar.
They tread gingerly,
touch machines
and wash-baskets gently.
The soap powder box
might as well be
an ice block
containing pear chunks.
Them working out
where the coins go
will be shared on YouTube
by Japanese girls
for months;
their cute, middle-class,
faces of awe
memed, t-shirted and tea-towelled.
They actually read
washing instructions on labels,
use fabric softener
and turn up
without the correct coins.
O the joy
of the ‘what to do?’
‘til the Turkish lady
sorts them change,
explains a service wash.
I can’t afford the Zoo these days,
but I surely rinse my smalls.
