I am a young executive. No cuffs than mine are cleaner; <br />I have a Slimline brief-case and I use the firm's Cortina. <br />In every roadside hostelry from here to Burgess Hill <br />The maîtres d'hôtel all know me well, and let me sign the bill. <br /> <br />You ask me what it is I do. Well, actually, you know, <br />I'm partly a liaison man, and partly P.R.O. <br />Essentially, I integrate the current export drive <br />And basically I'm viable from ten o'clock till five. <br /> <br />For vital off-the-record work - that's talking transport-wise - <br />I've a scarlet Aston-Martin - and does she go? She flies! <br />Pedestrians and dogs and cats, we mark them down for slaughter. <br />I also own a speedboat which has never touched the water. <br /> <br />She's built of fibre-glass, of course. I call her 'Mandy Jane' <br />After a bird I used to know - No soda, please, just plain - <br />And how did I acquire her? Well, to tell you about that <br />And to put you in the picture, I must wear my other hat. <br /> <br />I do some mild developing. The sort of place I need <br />Is a quiet country market town that's rather run to seed <br />A luncheon and a drink or two, a little savoir faire - <br />I fix the Planning Officer, the Town Clerk and the Mayor. <br /> <br />And if some Preservationist attempts to interfere <br />A 'dangerous structure' notice from the Borough Engineer <br />Will settle any buildings that are standing in our way - <br />The modern style, sir, with respect, has really come to stay.<br /><br />John Betjeman<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/executive-2/
