A financier resists an increase in the statutory minimum wage

it’s all about
maintaining differentials
don’t you see?

To earn my salary
and bonus shares
I have to get up early,
come to London
from deep in rural Surrey –
or my weekend pied a terre
in Normandy –

and stare at screens
of unforgiving figures,
keep my ear
close to gossip’s groundswell
always fearful
in case a tiny slip
of mouth or mouse-click
gives anything away.

Why live like that
except for due reward?
If I could make
the same amount by staying
close to home
to empty litter bins
or clean out drains
or help the elderly
it’s obvious
I’d do it like a shot.

But then there’d be
another tricky question:
who would ever bother
giving up the time
to take care of the markets?

Thomas Ovans has a background in technical writing and editing but has been a long-time reader of poetry and has finally begun writing it as well.  Hs poems have appeared in Smiths Knoll, Ink Sweat & Tears, Message in a Bottle and London Grip.  He also reviews poetry for London Grip