Class Based Analysis (poem first published in Iota 51, Autumn 2000)

His explanation was

That when his neighbour came to the door

The man attacked him with a phone.

So he defended himself

With a karate chop—

That was how his neighbour’s phone

Came to be smashed on the floor.

At the station

CID pushed him round the cells

With a truncheon in his ribs,

Took details of his mortgage, wife and kids,

Said: “Next time Kwai Chang*

Give the kung fu a miss”.

*Kwai Chang Kane is a character in ‘Kung Fu’, the popular 1970s TV show