Census
‘How many of you live here?’
The man with the clipboard was asking.
Numbers are not my strong point
And I get a bit tongue-tied.
I reply, in a roundabout way:
‘Well, some, here and there;
Not many now;
Fewer than there used to be.’
‘Is that the best you can do?’
He snapped, looking peeved.
I slope off, inadequate,
Fumblingly imprecise.
Turning round, I see my old class teacher,
Who once told me that, despite everything,
He would still enjoy his long retirement.
The search teams must have missed him yesterday;
Foetal in his dusty infant stillness,
Just visible through the smouldering pile.
Adapted to this hell, I keep it short:
‘Subtract one from that,’ I cry,
Trying to be helpful.
Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh
Tue 2nd May 2023 10:01
Thank you Stephen - I did read this right to the end.
As with most questions regarding the increasing intrusion into our private lives-and on other matters, I say: "follow the money".
William the Bastard's Domesday Book existed for the purpose of lining the pockets of his fellow utter and complete bastards.
They carried out the "Harrying of the North", a process which continues to this very day in both the north and south of the UK, on behalf of the friends of those Utter and Complete Tory Bastards, one of whom now leads what is laughably called the Labour Party. 😡