Esther Wangui
Job Seekers What?
The head is not empty
Nor the words blocked today or
Any other day
All is well without the pang
That gnaws at all within
My one and only food factory.
I could eat, oh yes I could
For the one and for the forces
Only if I could access
Egypt's stores at Joseph's time
But I regret my height for now.
Job seekers what?
Support-they called it
Or suffocating hand?
Whatever life, whatever hope
You had before
They strip and dare desire more
As if to say "You pay your dues"
You raise your voice or silent be
To those behind the desk it’s nought
Their day is done , their cheque is through
A pound a day or more an hour
Who really wants to hear your woes?
They will put down the phone on you
Of course they will and sure why not
For who are you to cause concern?
Jobseeking male or female youth
Another soul without a name.
"NI please?"
YL241181W
Y for Yo! L for Listen! W for weirdo!
"And how may I help you?"
Hope you can, really hope you could.
May you want to help and all
May you wear my shoes for once
May my name and NI be
A wake up call to why you work
Not to extract but to inform
Not to feed on but to feed
Until the fed is strong to walk.
Not all on benefits have air-bag minds.
These should be helped.
Page(s) 33
magazine list
- Features
- zines
- 10th Muse
- 14
- Acumen
- Agenda
- Ambit
- Angel Exhaust
- ARTEMISpoetry
- Atlas
- Blithe Spirit
- Borderlines
- Brando's hat
- Brittle Star
- Candelabrum
- Cannon's Mouth, The
- Chroma
- Coffee House, The
- Dream Catcher
- Equinox
- Erbacce
- Fabric
- Fire
- Floating Bear, The
- French Literary Review, The
- Frogmore Papers, The
- Global Tapestry
- Grosseteste Review
- Homeless Diamonds
- Interpreter's House, The
- Iota
- Journal, The
- Lamport Court
- London Magazine, The
- Magma
- Matchbox
- Matter
- Modern Poetry in Translation
- Monkey Kettle
- Moodswing
- Neon Highway
- New Welsh Review
- North, The
- Oasis
- Obsessed with pipework
- Orbis
- Oxford Poetry
- Painted, spoken
- Paper, The
- Pen Pusher Magazine
- Poetry Cornwall
- Poetry London
- Poetry London (1951)
- Poetry Nation
- Poetry Review, The
- Poetry Salzburg Review
- Poetry Scotland
- Poetry Wales
- Private Tutor
- Purple Patch
- Quarto
- Rain Dog
- Reach Poetry
- Review, The
- Rialto, The
- Second Aeon
- Seventh Quarry, The
- Shearsman
- Smiths Knoll
- Smoke
- South
- Staple
- Strange Faeces
- Tabla Book of New Verse, The
- Thumbscrew
- Tolling Elves
- Ugly Tree, The
- Weyfarers
- Wolf, The
- Yellow Crane, The