Plastic Bag : the Early Days

PLASTIC BAG : THE EARLY DAYS They said we all had a shining future, with bright lights, Advertising panels, and supermarket voice-over mentions Of high-quality “cellophane presentation wrappers” Of fruit - suitable even as a gift wraps We enjoyed peer support from other plastic bags We were all in it together like boot camp We had an important (fruit )role of “protecting and preserving” Just like the door motto on police black-and-whites And they told us there was the possibility of recycling - A change of career in our later years, Maybe as a drinks canister or a garden hose-pipe. I was even thinking. . . pension plan But disillusion set in early, with my first experience Of rotten apples inside my “gift wrap” skin, and smelly fungus growing. Man I could see it all in a flash - it was a set-up, a con-job, We were just unimportant plastic bags, which people throw away. Wind draft caught my loosened bag-tie one afternoon And I was up and away, through the door without a by-your-leave Mmmmm. . . fresh air and chilling with the seagulls And the rest is history