PITTANCE IN A FITFUL LOOP

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Bleak words the citizens speak.
They hunt the game but shudder in tattered cloaks beneath this teak.

While leaders are clad in sleek pelts,
they’ve been orphaned.

And they weave loincloths from fig leaves.

The leaders have etched on their tongues; austerity.
They’re gluttons who spend not on our benefits but on appeasing their oligarchic interests.

We receive pittance in a fitful loop
while leaders float on wealth.
We retire snivelling because of two unfriendly pals;
old age and hospital bills.
But they bow out rich beyond measure,
wrapped in the state's velvet care.

Pittance In A Fitful Loop by Sewornu Matthew, exposes the painful contrast between the suffering of ordinary citizens and the luxury enjoyed by those in power.
It portrays pensioners and the poor as trapped in a cycle of deprivation, where survival is marked by hardship, illness, and neglect.
The poem condemns leaders who preach austerity while indulging in wealth and serving oligarchic interests.
It highlights how public resources are diverted away from social welfare toward selfish political comfort.
Through vivid imagery, the work reveals how aging and healthcare become enemies for the vulnerable.
Ultimately, it is a call to conscience, demanding justice, accountability, and compassion in governance.