Recession? Where? Poem by Tom Higgins

Because of this recession,
how badly hit I am
I now must eat more chicken,
and cut right down on lamb.
Oh how we're all affected,
and for some it seems quite bad
but if you put it in perspective
it makes me really sad,
that here we are all a whining,
and bemoaning our lot,
when we really should be singing
to give thanks for a still full pot.

Whilst out there in the other world,
their reality they must face,
each night they lie in hunger curled,
many others of the human race.
Because the lottery of life
condemns them to such a fate,
nothing but fear, hunger and strife
to make up their daily plate.

So how damaged are we really?
Those of us in the West,
always so touchy feely,
whilst living on the best,
gobbling up resources
produced in the poorest parts,
eating multiple courses
and swelling our fat filled hearts.

While out there in forgotten lands
the people waste away,
reaching out with bony hands
that can't afford to pay,
to have the basic needs of life
that we all take for granted,
with exploitation and corruption rife,
against them life is slanted,
to make it so hard for them all
to ever find a way
to clamber up and over the wall
to start anew their day.

So how poor are we really?
How forgotten and forlorn,
are our clothes merely tatters
or are our shoes totally worn?
Do our children cry with hunger
or die of curable disease?
Are we thirsting for clean water,
or are we begging on our knees?
Of course we know the answer
and it is really hard to face,
that for us to grow and prosper
we impoverish others in the human race.

So when you rise each morning
and get ready to start your day,
count your blessings that the dawning
finds you where you want to stay.
In this green old land of plenty
where the children laugh and play,
because their plates are never empty,
and where all can have their say!