New poem: Buildings

A team from the TV rushed down to a food bank and

asked the people about the deficit. Could they think of

ways of bringing down the deficit?

No, it didn’t seem as if they could.

We have hard choices to make, said the team, should

we cut hospitals or schools or social services? Or should

wages come down?

The people at the food bank said that they would prefer

it if it was none of those things.

You have to choose, said the TV team.

Why now? said one of the people. It wasn’t as bad as

this a few years ago.

It’s pretty complicated said the TV team, but you remember

there was a banking crisis? As a result we’ve got to

get ourselves back in the black.

The thing is, said another one of the people, we haven’t

got any money to do much about that. Why not go and

ask the people with money?

Ah, no, said the TV team, that would be like pulling down

a building in order to keep it up.

Ah well, said one of the people in the line, if you’re talking

about buildings, it’s us who build buildings. Money doesn’t

build buildings.

Sorry, don’t get you, said the people on the TV team, so 

what’s it to be, schools or hospitals?