Looked After

I wanna protest
against Trump but mama says
I’ve got eczema,
there’s ironing left
to do,
the lawn, the beds,
bleach,
scrub the stairlift,
move the mouse-trap from A to B
once I’ve finished with that I should
make a start at
boiling jam.
Seventy-quid-train-fare should feed us all
the week after the picket.
I wanna protest
against mama but Trump
turned the noise right up
in my slum we think
earmuffs should do
she has a whole load of washing
my homework needs checking
for subversive context
a neighbour lost a cat and
she’s now on the phone with 111.
I am not heard.

Maria Stadnicka
Illustration Nick Victor