He arrives at the Jobcentre
Puffing and panting
Five minutes late
Tells them the reason
His bus was delayed
Simple
Straightforward
Road Ahead Closed

A man with a tie
With no conscience to speak of
Barks at him coldly
“In this day and age
We accept no excuses.
You can forget about money,
Forget about food
There’s thin air to live on
Road Ahead Closed

On a grey Winter’s day
Near a motorway junction
Delays in the traffic
With queues building up

Reports on the radio
The police have been dealing
With an incident ongoing

The body’s been found
Of a man who’s been sanctioned
A man whose tether
Had evaded his grasp

As motorists grumble
A grave voice on the radio
Announces severe delays

Road traffic collision
Is the reason; she’s sighs
Man versus lorry
The lorry survived

Another statistic
So let’s play the next record
Make a joke about potholes
Then we’ll quickly forget why
The road ahead’s closed