They Tell You The Best Things In Life Are Free Poem by Francis Duggan

They tell you the best things in life are free
The air we breathe polluted though it be
The smog and smoke that lines our lungs with gray
At least for such things money we don't pay.

But that the best things in life are free would seem a lie
As water for drinking most urbanites must buy
And though the label claims the water's pure
Of it's true source one never can be sure.

If you are poor and become ill one day
Your hospital bill the Government will pay
But for a bed you must wait in the queue
For fourteen days before they get to you.

And by then you may well not be around
And with all of those who 'rest in peace' you may be found
Whilst the one with the same illness as you and with the cash up front to pay
Is out golfing with his golfing mates today.

They tell you the best things in life are free
That for Nature's beauty we don't pay to see
But the urban sky from pollution looking gray
And for so called progress we all have to pay