Some people know what it’s like,
to be called a cunt in front
of their children
to be short for the rent
to be short for the light
to be short for school books
to wait in Community Welfare
waiting-rooms full of smoke
to wait two years to have a
tooth looked at
to wait another two years to
have a tooth out (the same tooth)
to be half strangled by your
varicose veins, but you’re
198th on the list
to talk into a banana on a
jobsearch scheme
to talk into a banana in a
jobsearch dream
to be out of work
to be out of money
to be out of fashion
to be out of friends
to be in for the Vincent de
Paul man
to be in space for the milk
man
(sorry, mammy isn’t in today
she’s gone to Mars for the weekend)
to be in Puerto Rico this
week for the blanket man
to be in Puerto Rico next
week for the blanket man
to be dead for the coal man
(sorry, mammy passed away in
her sleep, overdose of coal
in the teapot)
to be in hospital unconscious
for the rent man
(St Judes ward 4th floor)
to be second-hand
to be second-class
to be no class
to be looked down on
to be walked on
to be pissed on
to be shat on
and other people don’t.