News n Views....News n Views....News n Views....
PENSIONER'S POETIC PLEA
FOR RIGHT TO DIGNITY
When the chairman of Age Concern, Sir Roy Griffins, came to visit the Bentilee Volunteers' group B.E.S.T. (Bentilee Exchange Skills Together), local pensioner Mrs. Irene Harper-Smith handed him a poetic plea to give to Chancellor Rt. Hon. Norman Lamont.
The poem, called simply "Aggravation", outlines her heartfelt plea for pensioners to be able to spend their last years in dignity and not have to wade through government bureacracy, or wait on government charity, for every penny they get.
Mentioned in the Sentinel's reporting of Sir Roy's visit, the poem is here printed in full
-- Another Bentilean Exclusive!
Aggravation
Wouldn't it be simpler to pay a decent pension
Instead of sending papers too numerous to mention
Information on the telly and piles behind the door
Inquire and there's no answers, it goes on forevermore
We get older by the minute -- are we jamming up the works
Waiting every April for another little perk
It never solves the problems or keeps up with inflation
Is it the intention to decimate a nation
Surely we have the right to
Be
To spend the last years with
Dignity
Copyright The Bentilean 1999
Back to: The Contents Page | The Archive | The Bentilean Main Page