WHAT MATTERS

what matters is not a man's race
nor his gender
nor his class
but the class he serves

CAN'T BUY ME LOVE

what was it that old american indian chief said?
the quote that has since graced a thousand branded t-shirts?
only when the last tree has died
the last river has been poisoned
the last fish has been caught
will the white man realize he cannot eat money
copyright nike-gap-adidas
they also say you only notice money when you don't have it
on monday i was supposed to be paid
for the first fruits of my new labours
but the claim got held up
languishing in some in-tray of an overworked and understaffed office
and that day our bank account slipped nonchalantly into the red
come wednesday we were receiving a warning letter
from our 'ethical' bank
it gives us a week to rectify the situation
before hitting us with a twenty squid fine
(at least we got a warning letter)
the concept of debt is an interesting one
intimately linked to an arbitrary value
allocated by the legendary invisible hand of the market
with supply in a titanic clash with demand
where time is money and money is time
where quality is frequently irrelevant
where certain work is deemed virtually worthless
such as looking after others
and other work virtually priceless
for example speculating on investments
those who owe are separated from those who are owed
the result of a grand tallying up of nebulous contributions
a process which calculates the number of zeroes that fall
in the right or wrong column of the balance sheet
those of us lured by the dream of easy credit
rack up enormous cumulative debts
those of us prudent or lucky enough to save for a rainy day
see our savings shrink in value
as bank interest rates plummet below the rate of inflation
a grand corrective that massages the debts of the creditors
money is like roads
the more of it there is the more it gets used
have cash will spend
build a new motorway lane
watch it fill up with cars
the more we earn, the more we consume
the more we consume, the more we need to earn
an endless cycle
until we end up earning
simply to medicate our stress and depression
the shopping binge
the drinking binge
the food binge
the anti-depressants
why do we go on doing it to ourselves
when our survival depends on us doing the precise opposite?

AMPHIBIAN

amphibian is the mind
with gills and lungs
where there is love there is also hate
where there is kindness there is also cruelty
where there is charity there is also theft
there is a tension
between altruism and selfishness
between the saint and the sinner
between the witness and the analyst
the centre shifts to the periphery
the watcher forgets to watch and becomes involved
the observer forgets his role and pitches in
there is no solution but to notice the slip
and to return to the centre

BROKEN STRING

as the woodle toddles down the steep stone steps
into the bright sunlight of a february afternoon
her teacher miss m glides over unexpectedly
with furrowed brow she relays a massage from the violin teacher
i think i know what's coming
woodle has not done her practice
woodle does not show interest in her lesson
in short woodle is not a willing pupil
as for woodle she has not a word to say for herself
she has clearly concluded
that the best policy in the circumstances is to play dumb
as miss m launches into a lecture about wasting parents' hard-earned cash
(a lecture i heartily subscribe to
although i fear it falls on deaf ears)
i mutter vaguely about bones of contention
miss m can guess little of the smouldering domestic content
in the red corner mummy guns blazing
desperate for her only child
to take her rightful place in the school orchestra
in the blue corner woodle defiant in her resistance
in the centre of the ring yours truly
unsuccessfully trying to referee
while finding it almost impossible not to take woodle's side
but losing out to the fire-breathing wrath of mummy
i fear this battle will end on a discordant note!

WEIRD & WONDERFUL

maybe one day in the not-too-distant future
our descendents will look back
and recount a weird and wonderful story
of how we were persuaded to spend money we didn't have
on things we didn't need
to create impressions that wouldn't last
on people we didn't care about
or worse didn't care about us
while trashing the planet in the process

HOLE

A chain with a missing link
A page with a blot of ink
A poem with a vacant line
A couplet with a missing rhyme
There's a hole that can't be filled
An empty space on the windowsill
A trust that we can't rebuild
A hole that can't be filled

AWARENESS

As wide as the sky
As bright as the sun
As cool as the breeze
As soft as the moon

As endless as time
As deep as the sea
As warm as a smile
As high as a peak

As sharp as a thorn
As fragrant as musk
As brave as the dawn
As enchanted as dusk

As burning as rage
As calm as a dove
As wise as the sage
As pure as love

CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR

for the last several months
i have withheld my labour from the market
i have declined to pay war taxes

which finance mayhem in faraway countries

i have rejected the employ of remote and cold-hearted institutions
where cost trumps value every time
in short i have withdrawn from the fray
i have read
i have listened
i have reflected
i have meditated

i have been a family man

i have taught myself piano

i have written poetry and songs

i have disappointed messrs osborne n cameraman

for my activities have been of no economic value

i have therefore run my financial resources low

and made myself unpopular with wife and bank manager

i admit temporary defeat to keep the bailiffs from the door

but my protest is far from over