Young mothers taking toddlers to the shops
Returning home from playtime in the park
Promising ice-cream
Two select with mother
Nicest choicest ice-est treats on offer
They take them to the till
The pay-machine rejects one bank-card then another
Harassed and embarrassed mother
Returns all treats back to the deep-freeze chest
Those toddlers cannot understand
Humiliation from the shark of cash
That eats and eats and then regurgitates
Streets and streets in floods of tears
Held back
Dismayed and betrayed
Meantime false politicians say
Their fee is just ten thousand
Sterling pounds per mercenary day
To brag of that they do not know
In semblance of support
To any cause felt worthy of their wallets
The Chinese gave ice-cream
We change it to gelato
They gave us fireworks
We live within cold rooms
A politician is an ass
On which no whole man sits
Bernard Saint
Illustration: Claire Palmer
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