How to fast in Ramadan

by Catherine Harkness

Relocate one Iraqi family
from London on
a Friday afternoon.

Ensure all services are closed,
and no friends or family
live nearby.

Add a Serco flat above a laundrette,
with a broken bicycle on the balcony,
and dog poo on the stairs.

Remember that asylum seekers
get thirty-seven pounds a week,
which starts on Monday.

Don’t forget that Tom in Costcutter
hasn’t heard of halal meat and
doesn’t speak Farsi.

Combine two little children with your pregnant wife
and tell them there’s
no food for the weekend.

That’s how to fast in Ramadan.