Tag: milton keynes

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Literary Lockdown

031 – Time to Break Out

Time to Break Out

Never before have I witnessed 
Contempt for the truth on this scale 
As ministers queue up to lie to
Defend an intolerable tale

They feel their careers’ are unthreatened 
That there’s nothing can bring them to book
As long as they just keep on lying
They don’t care how all of this looks 

So they lie and deceive to our faces 
And expect that we’ll just stay in tow
So we have to make sure that despite that
They end their careers as they go

When Cummings resigns, and he will soon
It must not be the end of this mess
All those who chose to support him 
Have questions they need to address

This wasn’t some error of judgement
Or a momentary lapse under strain
It was carefully thought out and conscious
And it sought to deceive us again

These people are not to be trusted
They’ve shown such contempt for us all
We cannot and must not accept this
Let’s break ourselves out of their thrall.  

(c) Michael Gurner – May 2020

Categories
Literary Lockdown

030 – Bursting the Bubble

Image by Michael Gurner

Bursting the Bubble

I couldn’t conceive a more suitable case
To describe why I’d never vote Tory 
Than watching our ministers leap to defend 
#classicdom and his Durham trip story

The country has followed instructions 
To the letter with all that entails
Often at tragically personal loss
As the common good had to prevail 

It brought out the best in our nation
A courageous and mutual endeavour
Though often at deep individual cost
We stood as a nation together. 

But today shows that that was a mirage
And that bubble has brutally burst
As ministers queue up to tell us 
That it’s ok to put yourself first. 

What message that sends to those grieving 
And who’ll live with decisions they made 
For them now to be told they were wrong to
All so Johnson keeps hold of his aide.

(c) Michael Gurner – May 2020

Categories
Literary Lockdown

029 – He Turned

Image by Michael Gurner

He Turned

I’m standing applauding your u-turn
You’re doing what’s good and what’s right
Though denying you had to be dragged here 
Does not seem to be all that bright

You had a good chance to be humble 
To show that you’re open to change 
But to try and pretend this was always your plan
Seems more than a little bit strange 

I know, you’d be pounced on by idiots
But they’ll do that whatever you do
It’s those with more sense need to trust you 
And to know what you’re saying is true

You’re pushing us into a corner 
Where we’re doubting each thing that you say 
So for christ’s sake admit when you’ve screwed up
Our mistrust then, might start to allay.

(c) Michael Gurner – May 2020

Categories
Literary Lockdown

028 – Start The Clock Again

Image by Michael Gurner

Start The Clock Again

Can you see the pattern?
Have you worked out how they do it?
First they claim they’re in control
When pressed, they bluff right through it. 

Then they change their story 
And deny what’s said before 
And then they’ll set a target 
Which they know that they’ll ignore. 

Then they’ll claim they’ve hit it
And then they cough and bluster
Then promise ‘jam tomorrow’ 
With all the vigour they can muster

And all this stays unchallenged
Not a soul prepared to say 
This doesn’t match the promises
You made on previous days

So track and trace looms large
World class by 1st June
And as the day approaches 
We’ll eat up all they spoon

And when their plan is shown
To be something less than claimed
They’ll set another target 
And we’ll start the clock again

(c) Michael Gurner – May 2020

Categories
Literary Lockdown

027 – Serco Jerks

Serco Jerks

This Track and Trace app’s a concern 
Our data it asks us to turn
And hand over freely
To Serco? Christ really?
I wonder if we’ll ever learn 

Not to descend to name-calling
But their track records’ truly appalling
False accounting and fraud
Using data that’s flawed
Which perhaps is what I find so galling 

So what do I find as I wake?
As today’s headlines started to break
Serco stating remorse
To their tracking workforce 
As staff data they’ve shared by mistake.  

(c) Michael Gurner – May 2020

Categories
Literary Lockdown

026 – Journalistic Pleas(e)

Image by Michael Gurner

Journalistic Pleas(e)

I don’t understand, don’t see how it’s come to this
Even though I’m not a fan of much they do 
They haven’t stepped up.  Haven’t raised their game at all.
So we have to raise our challenges anew

Our friendly mainstream media, whatever that may mean
Accept lies from MPs in place of facts
Instead of going back the next time that they have a chance  
And saying – here you lied, will you retract

Make sure there’s a consequence for not speaking the truth
And call them out as liars in your organ
And give me journalism I can hold in high esteem
So I’m not sat here applauding Piers Morgan

(c) Michael Gurner – May 2020

Categories
Literary Lockdown

025 – Absence of Childhood

Absence of Childhood

Hands up if you ever ate something 
From another kid’s tasty school lunch?
Or had stuff of yours taken from you?
All of you?  Well I did have a hunch.

To think that kids don’t share or pilfer?
I admit it, I’m really beguiled
The only way you that could think that?
Never meeting or being a child!

Till now I’d thought that quite unlikely 
I’d presumed them as human as I
But maybe they should be examined?
A Voight-Kampff test? Or study their eyes?

Between you and me, let’s be honest
Were they marked as a species apart
I’d find that much simpler to follow
Than the bilge that they share with their charts.

(c) Michael Gurner – May 2020

Categories
Literary Lockdown

024 – Ass Sanctuary

Ass Sanctuary

Once again the tabloids scream
Man on left is traitor
He’s got this plot of land you see
A property speculator

Of course the headline’s bollocks
You’d have to be a fool
The piece of land’s a sanctuary
For Asses and for Mules

Which kind of writes the joke itself
Believe what’s in the mail?
It’s you then, that’s the donkey
And your conscience that’s for sale

For those you know that like this crap
What you can do for them.
Send them round some donkey pooh
And simply say ‘Eeyore then’

(c) Michael Gurner – May 2020

Categories
Literary Lockdown

023 – Alternate Fridays

Image by Michael Gurner

Alternate Fridays

Zoom, Friends, Wine, Chat,
I’m getting rather used to that.  

Zoom, Friends, Wine, Debate.
This week, we won’t finish late. 

Zoom, Friends, Wine, Quiz.
That’s fun too. It really is. 

Zoom, Friends, Port, Chat.
I’m rather pleased I switched to that.

ZoomFriendsPort, 2am?
Can’t believe we’ve done that again.

Port, Port, Port, Bed. 
Ouch, Ouch, Ouch, Head.  

(c) Michael Gurner – May 2020

Categories
Literary Lockdown

022 – Nurses Aren’t Entitled

Nurses Aren’t Entitled

A question to the minister from a member of the herd
Do you accept that nurses have a vital role?
And that they have been and continue to be very poorly paid?
And addressing that should be our primary goal

The response from the minister, did not raise much surprise?
I do accept that nurses’ role is vital 
But you must remember when you talk about the need for pay
Their rise last year means they are not entitled 

I do believe we’ve shown just how much nurses mean to all
We clap them once a week, that’s government led. 
Well minister, I don’t believe when bills have to be paid 
Suppliers will accept applause instead 

Our economy is upside down, we’ve got things back to front
We don’t reward those on whom we rely 
So when our leaders tell us that there’s nothing can be done
We mustn’t let them propagate that lie 

They have to find a way, and if they can’t they must resign
And if they don’t then we must force them out
And bring in those who will not take us back from whence we came
We can rebuild our country, have no doubt.  

(c) Michael Gurner – May 2020

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