100 YEARS OLD AND STILL FRETS ABOUT EVERYTHING...
TRAVELLING to work the other morning, I had my thoughts derailed by the opening words of a couple of gentlemen who boarded the train.
“How are things?” one man asked the other. “Good, good,” said the other. “Everything’s fine.”
This opinion was so much at variance with my own view of the current state of the world that I was tempted to remonstrate with them immediately, but decided I should put my thoughts in order before discussing the matter. As usual, when facing matters of great emotional significance, my notes took the form of an epic verse under the heading “Is Everything Fine?”
There’s a great deal in the world to
fear, From the USA to North Korea, And Europe’s making a dreadful fuss As they face the prospect of losing us And their comments are far from
benign, The raging hurricanes, Harvey and
Irma, Have torn up buildings and terra firma, While genocide in the west of Burma, Arouses only a distant murmur. Everything’s far from fine.
Our Euro-friends now act like foes, The pound gets weaker, inflation grows, The unions threaten a winter of strikes, While Trump is obsessed with the
number of Likes He can gain on his FaceBook shrine. The state of the world we must
deplore. No pay rise for workers, no food for
the poor, No sign monsieur Barnier’s seeking
rapport. The risks that now face us we can’t
ignore, International tensions, furthermore, Are showing no sign of imminent thaw, As Trump squawks dementedly like a
macaw, Pyongyang prepares for nuclear war, And Kim Jong-un seems so cocksure, Demanding that the Yanks withdraw. No, everything isn’t fine.
And can you believe what our PM did In presenting the Irish with one billion
quid That she found on a money tree just
like a flower, To keep her administration in power? It seems a huge price to pay. Now there’s more in the shops we can’t
afford, America’s quit the Paris accord, There’s little now left that we’d like to
applaud, We’re sailing through whirlpools as yet
unexplored, Through hazardous waters, all dangers
ignored, So gung-ho me hearties, let’s all climb
aboard. For everything’s not OK.
Having scribbled these lines on a notepad, I was now ready to take issue with my fellow travellers on the matter of whether everything was fine.
So casting a final glance at my arguments and taking a deep breath, I turned slowly to face them and rebuff all their smug assurance.
Unfortunately, that’s when they rose and got off the train.