Poems
Poems
from the survivors’ poetry workshop at Disability Action in Islington
July 2019
SAD REFLECTION by Dave Russell
I count myself so lucky:
Around me is a morass of crumbling structures,
Rotting fabrics.
I think of all those I know, desperate,
Faced with blank walls of non-communication,
Vacant ignorance, walls of hostility Forced to desperation, degradation
To sink ever deeper
Into the ditches of stranglehold interest
All those who suffer less must offer bridges,
May the islands of safety expand To embrace us all.
HAIKU by Andrew Rea
Dignity system
Rescuing those less able
Rewarding hard work Footnotes – System should maintain the dignity of all. Applies to anyone, on all forms of benefit in need. But those who work must be rewarded for their efforts, especially including those trying to get back into some degree of work. So system should allow you to be better off the more you work and not create a poverty trap.
DELIBERATE by Rona Topaz
Anyone would think this was deliberate
A policy of organised eugenics
A Social Darwinist mentality
A cleansing – economically aesthetic
Such as sanctions for an attendance at a funeral
Three months of zero pounds and zero pence
Collusion from the BMA and charities
Few politicians come to our defence
How many of us knowingly condoning
The systematic killing of the poor?
Official deaths: 130,000
But as one might suspect, it’s probably more?
And what might be its ultimate achievement?
Are such decisions borne from greed or hate?
It certainly has not saved any money
To brutally suppress the welfare state!
A different system – no conditionality
For people who are vulnerable or disabled,
A nurturing empowering plan of action,
A system free of stigmatising labels,
A decent type of payment one can live on,
With help for some job seekers right beside,
And nurturing for end of life included,
Right now they ask: ‘why have you not yet died?’
Yes, anyone would know this was deliberate,
The cruelty and inhumanity,
There’s a myriad of changes to consider,
To change the Darwinist mentality.