High visibility man

A cold winter morning, the world still in bed
Two headlights stare out at the road up ahead
Down form the cab of a Post Office van
Emerges a high visibility man

His jacket of orange is caught in the beam
A dazzling explosion of reflective gleam
He loads up some mail bags and heads on his way
The start of a high visibility day

Down at the station the train is in sight
The engineers’ shift has been running all night
They stroll back to base dressed in lemon and lime
The end of their high visibility time

Up on the platform the man from Despatch
Tells all the people which trains they should catch
He makes sure the driver gets off in his slot
And stands there: a high visibility spot

Just near the church some mechanical sounds
Signal the bin men are out on their rounds
At the back of the lorry, where rubbish is hurled
One ponders his high visibility world

“Yes, there’s the grime and the noise and the smell
The frost in December, the rainstorms from hell
But soon you’re in March and can work with a zing
All set for a high visibility spring

“A desk in the corner of some civic centre
The lab and the coat of a high-tech inventor
An office canteen where the gossip is rife
Are fine if you want an invisible life

“Here’s to the boys in their hard hats and boots
Who silently sneer at the blokes in their suits
Some up on scaffolding, others down in holes
All have their high visibility roles."

“So give me a job in the great open air
A chance to work muscle and do it with flare
And playing the part wearing colours that glow
The star of a high visibility show”