Chingola Tankhouse

by Eveline Pye

Have you noticed that none of your stickhands
has any teeth? Well, I’m sure they do
put a lot of sugar in their tea, but do you not think
it might be something to do with the job,
poised above tanks,
jabbing spaces between cathodes
while acid fumes hit them in the face?

You’re not convinced. Well here it is.
I can be very scientific when I want to be.

The control group was matched for age, sex, tribal origin
and grade within the company. A Mann Whitney U-test was
carried out and the null hypothesis was rejected, resulting in
the conclusion that the stickhands have significantly fewer
teeth than the control group. Your attention is drawn to the
Dental Surgeon’s report on page 47:

THESE MEN HAVE NO TEETH

The management has to pay compensation
but I get big white wally smiles
every time I set foot in the tankhouse.