Richard Atkinson

sleeping digger man

passing by a

building site

walls half built

rubble strewn

empty of people.

midday sun yawning

air crisp

full of salt

and yesterday’s vinegar.

noticed

in this abandoned  landscape

enormous man with beard.

eyes tightly shut

asleep

a picture of serenity in a

tiny mechanical digger

whose cabin was

too small  for him

as though

everyone had left

having been unable

to prise him out

and decided to

leave him

be

sleeping.

passing him again

later

he was still as asleep

as anyone ever can be.

but there was a headless

shoulderless

human half figure

peering into a concrete tunnel

that lay upturned on the ground

next to digger man.

maybe he had lost something?

maybe  he  was  looking  for  answers

or  a  way  out

or  even  a  way  out  for  digger  man?

the headless man

and the trapped

sleeping

giant.

something  that  should

make  anyone 

smile

for  free.