I minute poem 'BENEFITS' for Poets against apathy by the Firm of Poets

I wrote this to be a 1 minute poem about 'Benefits' to be part of FirmAgainstApathy leading up to the UK's May General Election 2015.

It was filmed as a quick run through prior to me doing it for the Sleaford Mods film coming out in October 2015, which of course I did much better!

Hope you enjoy this

if the above fails to play, click on this link
'Benefits'

Benefits - full poem [denotes cuts to make a one minute poem] 

I will pull myself up onto the butcher’s table
for You to pick your weekly cuts,
the Nation’s Rich deem
we no longer deserve our souls,
Every day we can be called forward to be inspected
whilst the rich do the ‘accepted’ thing,
cheat on paying their full taxes, a ‘cultural’ norm
to claim THEIR expected cash benefits,
and so YOU, the jealously ill,
are let loose,
to hound US
the poor, unemployed and disabled,
rallying to hunt us down,
the Media branded unworthy,
the head-boys calling their fags
to chase down the quarry,
to harry us, split us off,
in these ‘Benefit Games’
until we fall exhausted and broken
then rationally and fairly,
crushing our bones to make a pleasing sound,
encouraging the tearing of flesh from the fallen,
to lean the joy of spinning us again and again
on pins of unimportance, on pins of unimportance, on pins of unimportance,
[normalise these jaws of deviance
organising the Transport of our lives through
‘unexpected’ non-payments, water-boarding sanctions, poverty taxes}
so I will pull myself back up onto the butcher’s table
for YOU to view my weaknesses,
to ask again for all my intimate details,
to pick through austerity’s collateral
for your pound of flesh.

Jonathan Eyre   April 2015

More about Firm of Poets

@AFirmOfPoets #FirmAgainstApathy:
https://www.facebook.com/AFirmofPoets?fref=ts

More about the Sleaford Mods
http://www.sleafordmods.com/