Act
Five shillings per week for each child in a family other than the eldest
Beveridge never said
the obvious solution
was to tie your tubes;
In 1945 they understood
that the poor love kids
as much as the rich
and have the same right
to have them, the same need
to feed and clothe them
as Prime Ministers
with their afterthoughts
or Royals with coach-built prams.
Now we punish the poor
for their fecundity,
only pay for the first two
while climbing
with our Boden babies
into our 4x4s.
Carole Bromley has two pamphlets and a first collection, A Guided Tour of the Ice House from Smith/Doorstop. Her second collection, The Stonegate Devil will be published in October. She lives in York, teaches creative writing, is the Stanza rep. and writes a poetry blog at www.yorkmix.com
reubenwoolley 