Plastic

Filing fingernails, telling tedium fetid,
Smooth till the shock of telephones
Command respect unlike true human tones:
The stolid grey staff offer plastic aid.
The rubric in traffic jams is keep calm
But drama's on the box beside the chair;
The plate is waiting and warm with care.
All this guarantees the children have no harm.
Candle-lit meal later with golden words
Contrasts a bit, with soft coos streaming easy
From computer printouts hard with facts and fees
Where sounds are flung far from boss to junior, sharp as swords.
When the killing comes, things could change to grave;
When nice green men stop cars, they'll let them rave.