bottles

The woman at the goverrment office had bright cerise lipstick which reflected the fabric that clung to her fleshy hips and behind. We followed the latter as it waddled us along the corridor.

‘Nice display’ whispered Julian once we were seated in front of a wad of documents. On the mantelpiece, instead of flowers and pictures of smiling grandchildren, was a collection of eight well-spaced empty plastic bottles: A Squat yellow, a willowy blue, an angry red, a pink-topped, a plump green, a sucked in gold, a seethrough and a multi coloured one. It was sort of ugly, but its courage was beautiful. Each one had been rescued from the rubbish and placed lovingly, and the display was as bold and modern as the woman's smile.

(Painting by Clive Blackmore )