I WAS ONLY FOLLOWING ORDERS

By Paul Siekor

I was only following orders

When I told the man with early onset dementia

His benefits would be cancelled

I sanctioned him for turning up

45 seconds late for his appointment

They don’t know the wall clock is set five minutes fast

I was only following orders

When I asked the man on crutches

To hop on one leg to test if he was swinging the lead

And when he tripped over his crutch

And fractured his hip

Gotcha! He was sanctioned for deliberate self-injury

I was only following orders

When the single mother with stage 3 cancer

And six brats under ten

Had a heart attack when I gave her my decision

I pulled down the blinds

She was reported missing later that evening

The tabloids spread the rumour that she had killed herself

We shut the office for 72 hours

Calling it a COVID-19 deep cleaning

And to hell with the people waiting for their appointments

I know the man who runs the biofuel generator

He has a nice little deal with the local mob

Biomassacre, I joked, and he laughed

And drew me into his arms

I was only following orders

When I summoned two beefy lads on workfare

To don full hazmat gear

Before disposing of the body

They will never say a word

They know what we can do to their families

They were only following orders

#darkpoetsclub