IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE PEOPLE!

Tight

by Sarah Crutwell

It’s hard not to focus on money
when you have none.
But everyone still wants their share.
I worked in a house where money was so spare
it filled gravy jugs on the top shelves,
piled unneeded into bank accounts.

When it came to pay day,
coins counted in palm
soon left my hand to keep
roof, heat, light, for another week.
Never any spare,
scraped penny pots for food shop.

It’s hard not to be angry
when zero-hour contracts,
pittance-paying apprenticeships,
payday loans & food banks
are seen as solutions
by those whose only money issue,
is how to squeeze it out of others.