Fresh British Octopus, 36p (Reduced)

by Clare O'Brien

Our eyes were bigger than our appetites,
so we reduced you.  We forced you from
your element and took away your worth.

Our greed was merely virtual. You served
us up a remnant of our holidays abroad, 
a raw reminder of what we’d thrown away.

We even made you British, to prove that still
Britannia rules the waves. Your oceanic wit,
your alien fluidity, your instinct for escape, 

were crammed into an oblong plastic tray, 
yellow-labelled with your price. One tentacle,
eager for release, lay crushed beneath the seal.

Your death brought us no profit. At closing time 
we tossed your little body in the bin.  Our guilt
we sent to landfill with the rot we made of you.