The Kemptown Verses

By JJ Leahy

Outside Saint Paul’s

With the homeless abandoned
To the filthy street,
Soaked through by rain
Drenched by sleet;

With good workers forced
Onto minimum wage
Encounter company greed
And the bourgeoisie rage.

Decency discarded
Like unwanted trash,
Sacking hard workers
To save a little cash.

Deliciously rich morality
Is such a gracious snack?
Depression on the rise
Watch the kiddies do Prozac,

But who will stand
In the face of defeat,
From Zuccotti Park
To busy Wall Street.

Tax avoidance
Depletes the state,
Stop banking fiddles
Before it’s too late;

Incoherent indifference
To the lawmakers salvation
Culpability of the financers
A portent to amputation,

Encamped the just
Tents on Cathedral ground;
With beliefs and intentions
Held most profound.

Narrate tried and true
Their philosophies,
The Activists recite
To each other at ease.

The Church of England
Was left confused,
To support the poor
The financially abused.

Or clear the ground
With brutal violence
And watch out the widows
In total silence;

Surely pondering scripture
From their Biblical text,
Could give them insight
On what to do next?

Would Saul of Tarsus
Ever to ignore,
Plight of the victims
From another class war?

When faced with morals
Of rich and poor,
The senior clergy
Head for the door;

A satisfactory response
They could not find,
So in blind panic
Well they all resigned!

While activists are ready
To fight and stay
The cowardly clergy
They all ran away.

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