NO.1 CARDBOARD CITY

                                                                                XXII

As I lay on the sofa
Suffering from a heavy dose of  'flu,
Barbed wire seemed to line my throat
And my head ached too.

My cough was deep and chesty
And I felt so sorry for me
Until I thought of just how bad
Life could really be.

My bed is warm and dry
I can lie in it all day,
Unlike the shop-door sleepers
Who have to move away.

And if it should pour with rain
I've a roof over my head
Pavement sleepers must make do with
A plastic sheet above their bed.

I can have a hot bath -
Change my clothes whenever I like,
Keeping clean on the streets is a battle -
No wonder folk give up the fight.

I can get up at any time
To make a comforting hot drink,
The bath and toilet are close at hand
And I cannot help but think ...

Of cardboard city dwellers
With no heating, kettle or loo.
Life must be absolute hell for them
When they are stricken by the 'flu.

Some have no one to turn to
No one cares if they live or die,
So as |I wait for my aches and pains to go
Very very grateful am I.


Waterloo Station
November 1994

ENGLISH IS A LANGUAGE DESIGNED TWO CONFUSE

                                                                                XXI                                             


English is a language
Designed two confuse
And that is the reason why
We like too use
Different spellings four
The same sounding word
Even though that is sew
Obviously absurd.

Wee still hang on too
Our idiosyncrasies
And will never allow
Anyone two ease
The burden of spelling
On hapless foreign folk.
Inn fact we find there problem
Something of a joke.

Without are awkward spelling
They wood learn English even faster,
For ours is an easy language two learn
But an impossible won to master.

To K.M.
Written October 1994

THE EURO PITCHER PLANT

                                                                       XX

The euro monetary system
Is like a pitcher plant,
It can be easy to get in, but
When you want to leave - you can't.

The advantages are clearly shown -
Think of nectar on the flower lip;
Problems only reveal themselves
As down you gently slip.

Like an  insect trapped in a flower,
Once you're in you can't get out,
No matter how you struggle,
Complain - protest - shout.

Some leaders thought the Euro zone
Would give them more authority.
Some countries even voted for
The death of their own currency.

It's fine in the good years,
But when economies crash
The authorities in Brussels decide
Which budgets you must slash.

When financial systems fail and flounder -
As drowning insects fight and flap -
Do countries wish their leaders
Had avoided the honeyed Euro trap?


February 2011