Poem: The one eyed nun from hell

The one eyed nun from hell

The one eyed nun from hell

The Beyond Dependency Conference in New Zealand

The one eyed nun from hell
has come down here to tell
us,
how to slash the dole,
how to sear the soul,
how to thrash the poor
and so much more.
Removing people from the welfare roll,
forcing the unemployed to work for the dole,
destroying poor people's legitimacy
in the name of ending their dependency.

We don't need this silly witch
to tell us how to dig a ditch.
We rationalised and privatised
the things we owned in common.
Now that there is little left to sell
they turn to a one eyed nun from hell,
with her unpleasant habit:
of competition and efficiency
poverty and dependency
Hers is a message of hopelessness
misery, impoverishment and uselessness.

Ours is a message of hope and solidarity
of joy and unity
between workers and workless,
between those who are happy
and those who are distressed.
We are free.
Free of a free market mentality.
We are free.
Free to join in common mutuality.
We don't need to denigrate.
Ours is a message of love not hate.
We don't need to put others down.
Ours is a struggle without division,
We don't want their revision
of our citizenship.

John Tomlinson

From GLW issue 280