Strawberry Yoghurt
Today I woke up, stretched, and stumbled out of bed
Street lamps glared through the window
To start a fake light of day
I brushed my teeth, rinsed my mouth, splashed and washed my face
Still half asleep I heard the postman post walk away
On the rug below the letterbox a newspaper lay,
I sat down to browse it, like I do every day,
But as my eyes awakened I saw the words on the page weaken,
To see the truth wasn’t always the same as what they’d say
My toast popped
As I search for a topping from the cupboard
I notice something wrong
There are no oranges in the ingredients of my carton of orange drink.
And my strawberry flavoured yoghurt has no actual strawberries in it
And my lunch box prawn crackers contain no trace of fish
But there’s animal fat in my cheese and onion crisps.
I put my lunch in my bag
I dash out the door
I wait at the stop for bus number three
As the streets all go past me
I see adverts plaster me with fake scenes
Airbrushed faces advertising skin creams
Holiday adverts with fake families on photo-shopped beaches
And I’m wondering what it all means
I get to work, I don’t need to water the fake plastic flowers,
On the office doors wall plaques etch fake positions of power
Grey and Black suits give an allusion of more importance than me
Fake titles separate directors and executives from mere mortals like me
I shake hands with a woman to give the allusion of a done deal
The clock ticks 5 on the wall, as if numbered time is real
On my way home I go to the supermarket and pay with a plastic card of fake money
At home I add too much water to my Smash and my fake mashed potatoes get too runny
I watch TV and follow a fake family living on a fake street,
The fake couple had a fake split I don’t share the woman’s fake weep
I get into bed
Check my Facebook site of half friends and photos,
Three people sent me a kiss
Two fake hugs and one poke
And as I lie in bed and try to get to sleep I hope
Somebody tomorrow will give the punch line to the joke
Where the strawberries in my strawberry yoghurt are
Or the oranges in my orange drink
Or why the papers are not always right
And who and why they’re writing it
And this stuff is so important
And I think it’s really good
To think about what we think and not just what people say we should
Like detectives on TV, I think we need to look for further proof
Or we’ll never eat real strawberries in our yoghurts or know what all those products really
do
Or understand that someone in a suit is no more valuable than you
And whether what you read in the news every day is really true.
By Hollie McNish