Villanelle: Eyes On the Prize

The Pfizer guys are haggling with the NICE

And while they talk, the cancer spreads again

You’ll get your pills when they’ve agreed a price

You’ll get your answer when they’ve rolled their dice

And dealt your hand out in their counting den

The Pfizer guys are haggling with the NICE

So just be patient, please heed our advice

At some point, they will tell the patients when

You’ll get your pills, when they’ve agreed a price

Shareholders and Execs must get their slice

Your longer life lies with the money men

The Pfizer guys are haggling with the NICE

It’s hard for them to make this sacrifice

Each penny off’s a penny less for them

You’ll get your pills when they’ve agreed a price

Nine months of talks to get the charge precise

Let’s hope that you can stay alive till then

The Pfizer guys are haggling with the NICE

You’ll get your pills when they’ve agreed a price

© Janine Booth

NICE backs funding for Pfizer, Novartis breast cancer drugs

Janine Booth lives in Hackney, East London. She writes and performs poetry, and has had three slim volumes of poetry published. Janine posts poems and political polemics at www.janinebooth.com

Angelina

Gary
never known for his subtlety
three pints in at The Anchor
half an eye still on the game
orders another lager

swigs
stands tall at the bar
and tells us all
this changes nothing
he wouldn’t kick her out of bed

hilarity
he’s no oil painting himself
never has been never will
shouts of he should be so lucky
in another life in his dreams

burst
of the old anglo-saxon
to put us in our place
and then the surprise
he takes a sip and asks us

imagine
the quacks went at your jewels
with a knife
to save your life
could you would you tell the world?

Gary
never known for his subtlety
three pints in at The Anchor
drinks the silence
nods and tells us

courage
looks and more balls
than all of us together that Lara
and then Gary orders another lager
half an eye still on the game.

© Steve Pottinger

Angelina Jolie has double mastectomy due to cancer gene

Steve Pottinger writes and performs poetry whenever and wherever he can. He has a website at stevepottinger.co.uk and can be found on twitter at @oneangrypoet