There are people who have never worked
and people who are so rich they don’t need to.
There are people who own twelve houses or more
and people who have no home to shelter them.
There are people on benefits, facing sanctions
and people who evade the taxes that could help.
There are people waiting for operations on the NHS
while the purse-strings are pulled tight.
There are people who want to rejoin the EU
people who are adamant we won’t or can’t.
There are people trying to come here to live
for they don’t feel safe where they are.
The ghost of Margaret Thatcher haunts the streets,
smiling at the industries she closed, applauding
herself for making the word society lose meaning.
Democracy will be next to go.
.
Angela Topping
.