The Corporate Warriors  

 
The corporate warriors,
Into battle you must fly,
High above the sleeping mortals,
Across the dawn red sky.
 
Looking good in your pin stripe,
With your Church's leather shoes,
This game is all about winning,
You don't get paid much to lose.
 
You're obviously in the Club,
Because you always board near last,
Your preference is a window seat,
And your points are growing fast.
 
You've got the fastest lap-top,
And the smallest mobile phone,
The days are non stop hustle,
The nights you're far from home.
 
You've got a car that picks you up
Your hotel knows your name,
And there's your favourite strip joint,
Where you nearly play the game.
 
But you can't look her in the eye,
Because she is someone's daughter,
And now she's doing tricks for you,
That her mother never taught her.
 
This life should be full of glamour,
But you'd rather be safe at home,
And you're fed up with suitcase life,
And sleeping on your own.
 
You're tired of the alarm calls,
Been too many before it's five,
And you're fed up with airline food,
And feeling half dead, half alive.
 
And you worry about your breath,
And your hair starting to grey,
With the other suits getting younger,
Still keen and eager for the day.
 
But the battle has to go on,
And this won't be for evermore,
Because one day you'll lose the blood lust,
To keep fighting your corporate war.

Copyright Allen Jesson 1999

Poem Of The Month - When I Was Young

 An Australian chip manufacturer ran a forgettable advertising campaign in 1996 that had a theme "When I was young". I think the campaign was aimed at the younger generation and focused on how older people often look back through rose tinted spectacles and say things like "In my day……".

Thankfully the campaign didn't run that long but the thought stayed with me and over the next six months I would hear or see things that fitted this pattern. This poem is a collection of those observations coupled with my own experiences.
 
When I was young…

When I was young,
I would never be this old,
I was going to save the world,
And hear my story told.
 
When I was young,
Sixpence was a treat,
Bought tuppence worth a chips,
And a Saturday morning seat.
 
When I was young,
I was ever so uncouth,
I felt less insecure,
And had the confidence of youth.
 
When I was young,
I wasn't this fat,
Had a tight little bum,
And a stomach which was flat.
 
When I was young,
Summer seemed to never end,
And if the question was asked,
You would have died for a friend.
 
When I was young,
We knew they were only joking,
When they warned us,
About cancer and smoking.
 
When I was young,
Didn't know the word stress,
And how life, (if you let it),
Can end up in a mess.
 
When I was young,
Didn't drink on every day,
Didn't need to,
And wouldn't, any way.
 
When I was young,
I saw men at their machines,
Making shoes for the well heeled,
I wonder what happened to their dreams ?
 
When I was young,
The good guys would survive,
But I still believed in God,
And Dad was still alive.
 
When I was young,
A computer filled a room.
Now my typewriter,
Could put a man on the moon.
 
When I was young,
We didn't have Pay,
There was always the Xmas movie,
And one on Boxing Day.
 
When I was young,
Comments were sometimes made,
That would now be classed as racist,
But a spade is still a spade.
 
When I was young,
Nobody had ever seen,
The hole in the ozone,
And the rivers weren't blue green.
 
When I was young,
AIDS was not about,
And they were still in the closet,
Not daring to come out.
 
When I was young,
We told Biafran jokes,
Today they're still starving,
Same problem, different folks.
 
When I was young,
I had more use for a comb,
And life seemed safer,
Nobody invaded your home.
 
And now I look back,
Through my pair of rose tints,
How do we forget the bad times,
And not the good ones since ?
 
But the real scary thing,
And I do know this somehow,
Today is what I will long for,
In a few years from now.

Copyright Allen Jesson :) 1996-2001

Poem Of The Month - Melbourne Markets

This poem wasn't written for the tourist board but if you ever get the chance to visit Melbourne (Australia) you must go to Victoria Markets, you name it - you can buy it there ! By the way, Kilmore is a local race track.... 

Melbourne Markets

Walking around Victoria Markets,

the hint of spring is in the air,

but the chill of winter lingers bravely on,

like the remaining chestnut sellers,

who make their last desperate calls,

before flying north for the summer.

Unlike the caged pigeons,

(three for five dollars).

For twenty bucks I could set twelve free,

but I keep my money,

and save it for a nag at Kilmore.

Across the aisle,

body pierced lesbians sell organic produce,

trying to save the environment,

but they too ignore the pigeons.

Did you know that they built these markets

on the site of Melbourne's oldest cemetery ?

As the crowds clamber for their weekend meat,

it seems kind of fitting, 

that the organ churns out its mechanical melody,

grinding on the souls of Melbourne's long forgotten dead.