RUE BRITANNIA (after OL’ MAN RIVER)
Muddy oul river
that very long liver
dredgin’ they should be doin’
saturatin’ without ruein’
keeps muddin’ along
boastin’ it’s strong
He don’t make nothin’
not even his own coffin
and them that makes nothin’
is soon forgotten
under muddy waters
where nothin’ matters
While you and me pay the bills
through finance-capital’s will
privatised electric
and water tonnes metric
sea-gas no longer provides
a cheap means of suicide
`Course you’re weary,
of cold-callin’ leery
wishin’ you were that muddy river
no tax no rent never,
but drownin’ in the sea
like GB plc
Money-yobs on that river
play hedge-funds with you the giver
they don’t build but bet
snort cocaine from dawn till sunset
Don’t protest
and risk arrest
and be police-booted
stand there and be looted
when old seek no medical attention
suffer that pain though it’s wrenchin’
realise you’re postcoded
and outmoded
Let me go from what they call home
to the Middle-East and roam
show me that stream called the River Jordan
where no Palestinian crosses the Israeli cordon
Muddy oul river
that very long liver
dredgin’ they should be doin’
saturatin’ without ruein’
keeps muddin’ along
boastin’ it’s strong
He don’t make nothin’
not even his own coffin
and them that makes nothin’
is soon forgotten
under muddy waters
where nothin’ matters
Wilson John Haire. 8th February, 2014
Labour Affairs Magazine 