A Poem for Today

We Must

Unrest in the world prevails and desperate soliloquies
On power, On people, on poverty, on a “higher cause”
Permeate our media portholes.
Our solvency is questionable as our caffeine addiction costs more.

Meanwhile we’re told, or were taught, to dream.
A frivolous and cringing word that has lost its roots of eccentric revelry
And become the buzz word of reality TV.
And rash, young Jos and Joannas are indignant
When notoriety and wealth doesn’t come-a-calling.

Choice and Education, Education, Education –
We were promised would better us
Yet parents and mentors who had neither
Still house us in their life’s earnings.

Some work for free in prestigious places
Or crush their hopes and buckle down.
Politicans court us.
They forget they put WWI propaganda campaigns
On the national curriculum.

Look back, look forward.
Work for your country but look after yourself.
The fashion industry is reviled.
“Women can be any shape.”
Except an obesity statistic.

The list of rules grows longer.
Individual responsibility grows less.
Just call the NHS.

Cavemen still dwell inside us all.
We expect so much and yet give little.
A generation doomed, or a turning point.
The old freeze, the young complain about fees.

Opinion changes every day and confusion is prevalent.
Clichés have tarnished the terms of life.
A precious gift, seize the day, live it to the full.
Yet we must.



By Jessica Meins