Like marbles in a tin
written after talking to lovely people and groups at the Bus Park Café in Swadlincote, Derbyshire
The winds are bitter cold, you’d think we’d had enough,
All the same High Streets, the modern world is rough,
All machines and faceless, and no jobs, it’s tough
…But we’ll always get through, always find a way
…Because we come together down at the Resistance Café
It’s all for profit now, for some fat cat’s stash,
We turn the heating down, because we haven’t got the cash,
But we’re living it up tonight, bingo, bangers ‘n mash,
…You couldn’t want for better, so hear our call, W’hey
…Come on down and find us at the Resistance Café
If you ask what’s in ‘Swad’, we’ll say it’s all gone,
And the cuts, buses, benefits, hospitals, it’s all wrong,
But we’ve got cheese on toast, and that’s our song
…We’re young at heart, and we do enjoy a buffet
…So come on down and join us at the Resistance Café
We know each other, help each other, plot
Our next travel trip, Scarborough’s a favourite spot,
We bring each other tea, because little things mean a lot
…And you gotta get out every day
…So we’ll see you down at the Resistance Café
We talk and talk, little stuff, big stuff, sitting
In a circle, we natter while we’re knitting,
Yes, we like to rattle, we’re like marbles in a tin
…We like to get things off our chest, have our say
…And we’re raising funds down at the Resistance Café
Whatever someone needs, we just give or lend,
It’s what we do, we make do and mend,
We won’t lie down, and you’ll always find a friend
…While the politicians think they’ve had their way
…We’re just getting on down at the Resistance Café
.
Matt Black writes poems for adults and children, lives in Sheffield and Leamington Spa, and has 2 grown-up children. He was Derbyshire Poet Laureate (2011-2013), and his most recent collections are Footsteps and Fuddles: Laureate Poems (Derbyshire County Council), and The Owl and the Pussycat and the Turtles of Fun (Two Rivers Press). He invented the world’s first Poetry Jukebox. www.matt-black.co.uk