Blessed are the meek,
for they shall inherit
this barren land, devoid
of jobs, of training, and further
education.
Suffer little children,
peering from the trappings
of another’s misspent youth;
parting the shreds of a brown paper bag
of cider – counts as five-a-day? – sweetened
with an anti-depressant
or a cigarette on the way
to a dead-end
apprenticeship.
Blessed are the poor
of spirit,
stacking shelves to break
the monotony
of fertile wombs and
teenage mothers and
increased risk and
bullying.
Must I walk
in the shadow of
death,
as my footsteps echo
in this bargain
basement
Britain?
© Carolyn Cornthwaite
Unicef: British children facing bleaker future under coalition
Carolyn writes poetry, flash fiction, short stories and has almost completed the first draft of a novel. She dreams of Booker prizes and a life in France and blogs at wimpywriter.wordpress.com
