My summer job was as a lifeguard at the swimming pool.

I think the two people in the flat next door are teachers.

I see them on the stairs, a canvas bag filled with exercise books

I don’t they they’re a couple they’re just useful for each other.

Two equally sized bedrooms. Someone to share bills and lifts with.

I used to want to be a teacher but now I see their red faces

and shoulders tense like alarm clocks on snooze

and those piles of books never stop, like the washing up.

We spend our days with the things in our bags.

When you’re in slow moving 7 am traffic

you need to be happy that you’re going where you’re going.