Nine Metres Away Poem by Deluke Muwanigwa

Nine Metres Away.

Like i do more than once a day
I busied myself with the mechanics of survival
Gathered the requisite components
Stuff with mixes of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen in complex bonds and many other elements
Water too
And gathered all by the jaw crusher
And initiated the processes

My last shift was at 18: 00 and all looked normal
The raw materials looked pure
Balanced
Colourful even
And i set about loading my jaw crusher
Slowly and deliberately
Savouring my work
Put my plant on auto
And retired to bed.

3: 00 was woken from my slumber
The ambient temperature way above normal
There was rumbling
Gurgling
Boiling and high pressure hissing
My process plant was in trouble
And i immediately set about making things right
Unclogged the system at the process's end.
Nine Metres Away.

C.22012022.