Ballot Paper by Emma Lee

I admire the sharp corners,
the pristine white page,
the ordered list of candidate’s names,
the blankness of the boxes
waiting for my penciled cross.

I know my MP’s name.
I don’t know his address,
even though activists dug up his lawn
and planted blue flowers
in the shape of a pound sign.

The ballot paper’s surface
is not smooth, but pitted and cratered
like the moon, its difference
to earth could be a metaphor.
How can something so richly blue
understand the problems
of a rock silenced by space’s vacuum?

My MP has never asked for my vote.
He is safe enough not to care
where I put my cross.

Emma Lee’s “Ghosts in the Desert” is forthcoming from Indigo Dreams Publishing (2015). Previous publications include “Mimicking a Snowdrop” (Thynks Press) and “Yellow Torchlight and the Blues” (Original Plus). She blogs at http://emmalee1.wordpress.com and is a blogger-reviewer for Simon and Schuster. She also reviews for The Journal, London Grip and Sabotage Review magazines.