A soldier visits committee PD 11/2017/J6:13b

A onetime squadie, now sparky, who works for the BBC
walks the Kafka corridors of W1A
Looking for committee PD 11/2017/J6:13b
sub basement 2 room 26c.

He didn't know why he was wanted
but rigging lights for celebrity come baking on ice was a bastard
so happy to be there you see.

Meeting set for eleven hundred hours
Location reached 10:53

The girl from Vogue said nothing but waved him, impatient,
through the doors of 26c

Five faces look expectant.
An elfin queen, a dominatrix bitch, a fully faded flower child,
a clever looking schoolboy and a left over yuppie with specks.

Elf queens is the first to speak; 
"Oh sergeant, sergeant thank you"
(unexpected promotion but hey)
"I hope you're my knight in shining armour, we need a saviour you see."
"Yeah, hi man, we got some problems":- the hippy
"we can't get a handle on the figures":- the schoolboy
"after all we can't rely on random multi demographic enquiry graph sets":- yeah, the yuppie
"it's already October 13th" pleads the elf queen
"Friday the 13th man, not good you know man, it is like getting me down"
hippy
"Newsreaders need to know when to wear them":-dominatrix " and as you were one of our brave soldiers........"

He suddenly got what they wanted
and the obtuse insulting stupidity made him snap to attention and bark

                          "POPPIES ISSUED OCTOBER 27 AT SIXTEEN HUNDRED HOURS AND MUST BE WORN AT ONCE"

He watched as relief just flooded them, then the smiles and mirth.
Red specks asks him to the BBC bar but when he shook his head they left.

The soldier picks up a discarded poppy and sits alone in 26c.
He searches in the petals for missing Helmand faces
and sheds a tear in the forgotten debris
of committee PD 11/2017/J6:13b.