The Vinyl Man And The Electric Fan Poem by Jack Gill

When I saw him in the bathroom kneeling down upon on the floor,
He had the look of mischief in his eyes, I think I saw:
Happy singing fellow with a brush in his hand,
Gluing vinyl at the edges, as beforehand, we had planned.

'Hello', he said, as he broke off from his song,
'Been waiting here to see you and working here along:
Do tell me if you want more higher up the wall?
I have enough to make it bigger, it's easy to install'.

I looked with pleasing eyes to see what the chap had done,
He took it higher than I was told to make it run:
One hundred millimetre up, the health people had said,
Any lower and we will close your shop instead.

Was then that I realised the smell was in my head,
The smell of his sticky glue in the room was so widespread:
My head felt light, it was a buzz, because of the glue,
No wonder he was so happy, his head was a fuzz, through.

Smiling as I backed away from the smelly fumes,
My eyes felt like red roses in full bloom:
Still smiling he looked busy he pasted up the sticky glue,
Never stopping working hard till the was through.

The edges looked fantastic taken higher up the wall,
The vinyl layer told me it was better than so small:
'When you mop it out, and scrub it, it's easier to clean',
I look at him and wondered if he means with my machine?

I thanked him greatly, and gave the man a cup of tea,
He looked so pleased to to rest his back, and rubbed his knee:
'Thank you sir, it's nice to take a break from all that glue, '
I asked why does he not fan it away, so it does not accrue.

'I never thought of that', he said, then he rubbed his head,
A fan will also blow the smell away, I told him that I read:
'I'll do that', he said, 'just as soon as I'm able';
Don't worry old chap, here, take this fan, off the table.

Leaving with his new electric fan, and a very happy grin,
I thanked him, and said, we both had a very good win.
'Yes I agree', he said, 'indeed, no more fumes for me to suffer,
And you have a new vinyl floor that’s now waterproof and tougher'.