Debt Weight

By Rhiannonw

Mon, 28 Oct 2013
  • 1808 reads
7 comments
 

As slick and sly the words fly by,
a subtle bribe you may imbibe
to purchase now, from hearing how
you’re told you’ll gain, but greed indeed
pulls seller and consumer too;
and means to feed more basic need
are squandered, plundered, bringing rue –
deceptive “must-haves” false and fake
create financial stomach-ache,
relationships adrift from debt
leave families with pain and strain
increasing if sharks bite to let
postponement mean you can forget
a little while the spiralling pile  –
enslaved and sold to stranglehold.

No kill-joys they that warn against such ploys
and scorn such poisonous latest-gimic-toys
protrayed essential to a happy life
but frequent cause of drunkeness and strife
and wedge between a husband, children, wife.

So hard together to face up, unite,
and rather than aportioning the blame
in anger, seeking help, surmounting shame
to ask advice, get sympathy, support
to help work out escape route from this trap
in which so many have got snapped and caught.
 

Certificate U
Poem
Families
Miscellaneous

Comments

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

Thanks, Bear. Nice to hear from you too.
Yes, I was also concerned at the difficulty of going for debt help, which is often very sensitive and helpful in so many ways apparently, but it does take courage and co-operation in the family. Tough, but rewarding. Rhiannon

 

Submitted by Ray Schaufeld on

'financial stomach ache'. yes. I have known more than one person who has not answered the door and has pretended to be out when they think  that the knock might be the debt collectors. Often the sums owed are very small. And fat-cat shareholders and callous stuck-up politicians look down on the debtors with scorn.         Elsie

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

There is at least more recognition of the value of sensitive debt  help and counselling now, and I think the government is seeing the trouble that debt is causing and how easy to slip in, and the problem of high rate lenders preying on the vulnarable and desperate. I still feel that the student loan system has aggrevated the acceptance of inevitability of being in debt. Iit may not have sounded so well in election campaigns, but calling it a graduate tax would have been more  honest and more helpful too, keeping away the feeling of being already under debt so why bother. And in reality, it is a graduate tax, so call it that, I would say.
Rhiannon

 

Submitted by Bee on

So much truth spoken in this poem, Rhiannon. A slippery slope, indeed. With these rhymes, I think this would make a great performance piece.

Bee

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

Thank you, Bee, a very concerning subject. Rhiannon

 

Submitted by jeand on

Hi Rhiannon

Such a clever litany of words, telling about how the media entices people to spend when they have no money.

Jean

Jean Day

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

Thaks, Jean. Even the ordinary adverts and the 'moving home' programmes and dramas, can raise a picture of expectation of 'should have' aswell. Different to the era of 'mend and reuse' you were talking about the other day in some piece! Debt counselling seems to be such gentle, empathetic work, taking time (giving time) to really understand and try to work together to work out individual solutions. Such pressures around. Rhiannon