Only So Much Poem by Margaret Alice Second

Friday afternoon fatigue after slogging through a
document without stopping, checking each strange
phrase and testing each word I translate, now my
head feels swollen to triple its normal size, eyes
tired and eyeballs ache

The nearest I can come to change this feeling is
tasting eye-watering toothpaste in my mouth, wish
it was possible to feel better before tackling the
traffic and listening to the French Delft 4 CD -
repeat - un, A, quatre, moi

Received a new letter from one Tarentaal for the
President's Office, the name sounds promising but
Friday has been paid, I cannot resume reading again
without a long interval, I might get adventurous and
switch off the CD to listen to

FM classic - it might be as exciting as Shostakovich
or as familiar as Tchaikovsky; right now escape from
this painful situation of hunched shoulders and a sore
back is all that counts, my head aching, I must flee
the office and take a break

There is only so much one human being can take…