(This poem is not intended to be classist or politically incorrect. Simply, by an accident of birth I was born a child of the Raj and into a relatively privileged class - taught that if I honoured God, King and Country, I was guaranteed a place in heaven. Accordingly I was quite unprepared for modern day life, which quickly became a steep learning curve!)
ODE TO THE COMMON MAN
Oh Common Man!
Today I salute you!
You've broken the bondage,
That I put upon you,
Now you stand alongside me,
Unshackled, emancipated,
Two fingers you show me,
Vulgarity vindicated:
And suddenly,
Without so much as by my leave,
You've become educated,
Your status upgraded.
In an Esther Ransom,
Legally Aided,
Repetitive-Strain-Injury,
Internet chat-room,
Sort of way.
Gone the trouser clips,
The sit up and beg bike,
Gone are the visits,
To Margate in June,
No flat cap to touch to me,
No harmonium tune,
Played to remind me,
That you are a real life,
Person, too.Once, I drove over you,
In my shiny Bugatti
With my rich-bitch beside me:
As you picked yourself out,
From the ditch,
You thought yourself lucky,
That it was I who employed you,
That you were my lacky:
Whilst I might dock your pay,
Decency prevented me,
From dismissing you,
For denting my new,
BRG Mazerati.All that has changed, now,
Today, you're my equal,
Aware of your rights,
And quick to uphold them,
In Demos and fights,
And, if you're a 'Green,'
Anti hunting, a pacifist,
Afraid of 'coming out',
A cross-dresser or Queen,
Don't worry one jot about it,
With Blair, Prescott,
Glenda Jackson, Mandellson,
Wedgwood Ben, et al,
Behind you,
You may kick the skittles
Of shit from out of me,
With total impunity:And today, it is I who am afraid!
Next Poem