National Poetry Day – some lines on the ‘black economy’

We’re inviting listeners to send in their poetic meditations on ‘money’ today.
Here’s mine:

THE INVISIBLE MAN

I’ve never owned a share or stock
I have a safe but it won’t lock
I’ve never even seen the key
such things have never bothered me
Because my cash is all in hand
I fix up cars, I service vans
for notes and coin. I find that’s best
I keep it all close to my chest
In pockets in a boiler suit
And sometimes in my jeans to boot
On one thing I always depend
I get a discount when I spend
Except in certain situations
which always cause me great vexation
Like when it comes to hiring cars
And they demand a credit card
A driving licence, some ID
Some proof that I am really me
Which I don’t have, but they insist
And then they say ‘you don’t exist.’
I shrug. Perhaps you’re right I say
For now, let’s just keep it that way
All that you see is what I own
A pay as you go mobile phone
Some decent shoes, a sublet flat
No need for for real names renting that
My tools, my car – it’s old but goes
Some books, some music, a few clothes
When I die, I just won’t be there
And you won’t get your car repaired

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2 responses to “National Poetry Day – some lines on the ‘black economy’”

  1. Rachel Fox Avatar
    Rachel Fox

    I think money is one of the only subjects I haven’t written about yet…so here’s one love poem that mentions money and one that doesn’t but could…best I can do for now. Hope you like them.FREE LOVEYou can keep your twenty grand weddingsWith the limos and jazz bands and suitsGive me that day we cycled to Lunan BayThe hot sun, the empty beachThe lying in a mansize cup of sand in the dunesThe cycling home again the long way roundYou can keep the diamond ring in platinumThe weighty jewel from a far-off mineI’ll take a handful of that icing sugar snowThat shines up on a sunny winter morningNow that’s what you can call sparkleIt’s hard to find, harder still to keepI’m sure love is not about the priceThe menus or the pantomimeLove is the days when everyone’s tiredBut still no-one gets the blameLove lies around the house quietlyWaiting, so quietly, to be neededby Rachel FoxandSWEET NOTHINGSYou are nothingI am lessLet’s admit itWe’re a messby Rachel Fox (again)x

  2. Louise Avatar
    Louise

    Great poem Tom…is that yours? Nice.Here’s a favorite of mine discovered in a book of his works in the library at Lioncleit School in Benbecula in 96. ToadBy Norman MacCaigStop looking like a purse. How could a purse squeeze under the rickety door and sit, full of satisfaction, in a man’s house?You clamber towards me on your four corners – right hand, left foot, left hand, right foot.I love your for being a toad, for crawling like a Japanese wrestler, and for ot being frightened.I put you in my purse hand, not shutting it, and set you down outside directly under every star.A jewel in your head? Toad you’ve put one in mine, a tiny radiance in a dark place.Enjoy poetry day…a great thing indeed!Cheers,Tracy in Iowa

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