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Camels and Needles<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n by Rebecca Lowe<\/em><\/p>\n \u2018It is easier for a camel to pass \u2018Ah,\u2019 you say, Poverty is relative Try telling the woman Everything is relative.<\/p>\n Like, it\u2019s relative Like, it\u2019s relative for the woman Like, it\u2019s relative Everything\u2019s relative \u2013 The myth of the trickle-down economy, \u2018But I worked hard to get where I am today\u2019<\/p>\n Tell that to the nurse on basic wage, Tell that to the single mum working Tell that When the camel finally manages \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Camels and Needles by Rebecca Lowe \u2018It is easier for a camel to passThrough the eye of a needleThan for a rich man to enter heaven\u2019\u2026 \u2018Ah,\u2019…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":589,"featured_media":13933,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1660],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-poetry-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gfdesign.co.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gfdesign.co.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gfdesign.co.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gfdesign.co.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/589"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gfdesign.co.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.gfdesign.co.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13934\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gfdesign.co.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gfdesign.co.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gfdesign.co.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gfdesign.co.uk\/culture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Through the eye of a needle
Than for a rich man to enter heaven\u2019\u2026<\/p>\n
\u2018But it depends on the size of the needle,
It depends on the size of the camel.\u2019<\/p>\n
only for the rich.<\/p>\n
queuing up outside the foodbank
that poverty is relative \u2013
She has spent half a day
and most of her remaining cash
getting on and off of buses
to reach the benefits office
to be told that due to a \u2018technical hitch\u2019
her universal credits payment
has been delayed \u2013
It\u2019s raining,
The baby in the pram yowls,
She yanks down her hood,
hoping nobody will see her and judge.<\/p>\n
not to care about buying fairtrade food
to help the starving children in Africa,
like the smiling church lady said you should,
when you\u2019ve five children
of your own at home
going hungry.<\/p>\n
behind the benefits counter
on a moderate income
to close down her computer
at the end of the day
and go back to a decent meal
and a warm home.<\/p>\n
for the politician who declares
there\u2019s no need to increase the
basic rate of universal credit
because \u2018\u00a385.68 a week is plenty\u2019,
then treats his colleagues
to a meal and a \u00a3100 bottle of wine.<\/p>\n
Camels and needles<\/p>\n
Money leeching up from poor to rich,
Lining the pockets of greed:<\/p>\n
who today held the hands of a dying woman
and learned that her work is not worth
more than a one per cent pay rise<\/p>\n
three jobs to pay the rent on a flat
with mould growing up the walls.<\/p>\n
To every worker
In every city
In every country
Of the world<\/p>\n
To squeeze through that needle,
I might just believe it!<\/p>\n