imprisoned in this office
I struggle to breathe
beneath a meaningless mass
of names and numbers

when suddenly
the sound of seabirds
calling to each other in the carpark
somehow filters through the barriers

for an instant I feel as though
a door has opened up within me
I am flooded with distant memories
almost forgotten sensations

I recall the scent of fresh sea air
the feeling of warm sun on my face
and for half a minute or so
I soar into a clear blue sky
just like those birds

but as easily as sand
these images
are blown from my mind
the bird's cries drowned out
by the din of traffic

and I awake, as if from a dream
surrounded by a chaos of paper
staring into the blank face
of a computer screen

returned to the work
that so reliably
provides for my life
yet at the same time
suffocates it