DIY Sunday

at the second-largest
IKEA in Britain
Poles dance down aisles as wide
as Sweden chanting hymns
to slick abundance while
lengths of flame-bright cloth swing
like prayer flags over flat-
packed furniture bible-
stacked in waiting for a
carpenter saviour to
uplift them and unfold
their beechwood mysteries,
bolt and screw their slats and
slabs into chairs and a
table on which to spread
our sacramental meal
of meatballs, gravlax and
lingonberry cloud pie

© Helen Sword