Without poetry

Without poetry where would we be?
The birds would not sing
the buses would not run
and the world would stop turning.
We know that there has been
a 19 per cent reduction
in the production of metaphors
on a like-for-like basis, this year.

If a lot more similes
and poetry don’t arrive soon
the birds will fall from the sky
in a collapse of empathy
our colours will fade
and perfume will be indiscernible
description will lose its potency
against a basket of major currencies.