GENDER AND POWER (weekly poem)

GENDER AND POWER (1^st Summer School Poem)

(The SPGB Summer School was recently held at Fircroft College,

Birmingham on the theme of ‘Gender and Power’. This is the

first of two poems written for the programme of that event.)

There's women's movements found out there,

That say all men should take the blame;

For everything that they don't share,

And men should hang their heads in shame.

But when one joins SPGB,

One starts to take a different view;

As after sometime one will see,

That this world view is not quite true.

Most men are not in that elite,

The ten-percent who fleece the poor;

Men work so families can eat,

They, too, are working-class, for sure.

But workers foolishly divide,

Into opposing little groups;

Instead of sticking to one side,

They cause themselves to jump through hoops.

And then you have black versus white,

And 'trans' against both 'straights' and 'gays';

And Brexiteers who want to fight,

For their deluded better days.

Remember the elite's made up,

Of men and women, a rich few;

So let's all sup from the same cup,

Us working folk should stick like glue!

© Richard Layton