Poetry Corner: “Bangladesh , Pakistan et al blues”

Bangladesh, Pakistan et al blues

Cheap garments wanted
local rag trade business destroyed and thousands of North American jobs lost
cheap labour and the lure of profits
worn by those so far from and unaware of depraved low cost production conditions
outsourcing industrialized countries banality
Third World workers deaths in the many to make Black Friday a reality
a new variety of slavery
but it is a profitable business at that
just go ask the shareholder of huge garment middleman Platt
fattening the wallets of First World retailers as with cash they thicken
and the oppressed Third World proletarian sickens
to unionize would be wiser
but local management under pressure from the affluent importers must act like a miser
it’s cheaper to throw the troublemakers on the street
keep business neat
they don’t want a strike
profit must be increased
and the consuming public morally fleeced

Robert K. Stephen

Poetry Corner: “Boko Haram Murders 153 Schoolchildren”

Boko Haram murders 153 schoolchildren

nice little baby
come here sweetheart
want a nice big kiss from mommy
little chicken tidbits for your delicate tummy
daddy poo wants to take you for a walk
no big doggie is going to molest OUR little baby
and when you come home a cookie
oh you’re such a wonderful darling
where would we be without you
you lovable pooch
come to mommy and daddy

Yes everyone has differing priorities

Robert K. Stephen

Poetry Corner: “Beat up a poet today”

Beat up a poet today

Butterflies embrace the sky
a God given sunny spring day and the soul flies high
if this grade five rhyme is poetry then certainly something has gone awry
liquidate this trivial optimism
viewed through a socially irrelevant prism
quash this verse
place it on the next outgoing hearse
forget the grandmothers who sigh at the mention of shit and sewer
bombast the demeaning jingoism of the brewer
you complain that poetry is above the masses
you are wrong
it is meaningless and beneath them
the lies of a rosy hue
why is there no discussion of sniffing glue?
and the paying of class dues
beat up
and trash the poets of the ivory tower
it is time they awoke with a cold shower
with the millions who suffer waiting to see the way
while the poets ignore the every day
then let us level them to the floors
these upper class vocabularian whores

Robert K. Stephen

Poetry Corner: ” The 27th loser”

The 27th loser

She wanted to meet him and more
the Big Star
he was all she desired
without her body next to his she would go mad
a typical case but sad
in all likelihood he most likely was a cad
she rejected countless lovers by the score
preferring to read about him in cheap pulp magazines
dreams with-about-for him got the best of her
and she found it imperative to nestle in his fur
she found a job
but the money was not rolling in by the glob
her social life was nil
and to ensure any social damaging ill
she took the pill
she bought wardrobes by the score
but her lack of money made her look like a cheap whore
she saved her bread
and to Los Angeles she fled

the studios were phoned and finally she cornered his agent
a high class gent by the name of Kent
no way to see him was his reply
her pleas didn’t cause a dent
so hundreds of begging letters were sent
and the badgered man was forced to relent

She met him in line along with the others
but for her there was no worry
her competition were all classless mothers
so he’d soon be giving her kisses that smothered
therefore she was free of bothers

Finally it was her turn
5 minutes in the dressing room
his motors would soon begin to zoom
for her he’d fall
it would be a quick wedding with a Rolls and all
to be followed by children 6 feet tall

But he didn’t give a damn
for him it was simply another face
she lacked elementary grace
the 5 minutes vanished in such short space
her idol plainly didn’t care
and was not moved by her penetrating stare
so he called for the next
she sobbed and grabbed she was so perplexed
security guard muscles were flexed
and dragged away the wench
she was out on the street out of her mind on a cold bench
wandering amongst her proletarian kind
life to her now was nothing better than a rotten melon rind
it would be back to her job at the toy shop
what a loser flop
to the drugstore she went
on razor blades her money was spent
and back to the Holiday Inn
where she promptly did herself in

Robert K. Stephen


Canadian older and vulnerable inmates in federal correctional institutions to be vaccinated

Correctional Service Canada COVID-19 Vaccine Roll-out 

From: Correctional Service Canada

News release

Today, the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) announced that it is beginning vaccination of older, medically vulnerable federal inmates against COVID-19 as part of the first phase of the vaccine rollout, as recommended by the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI).

CSC expects to begin the rollout of vaccinations to highest-risk inmates in federal correctional institutions starting on January 8, 2021. As further supply of the vaccine becomes available, it will eventually be offered to all federal inmates based on NACI prioritization guidance. At this time, CSC expects to vaccinate approximately 600 inmates in the first phase.

Under the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, CSC has an obligation to provide essential health care to federally incarcerated inmates. To this end, the vaccine will be administered to federal inmates by CSC health care professionals. CSC has been working closely with the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) and has begun receiving doses of the Moderna vaccine, which was recently approved by Health Canada.

CSC staff are vaccinated by their home province or territory. CSC and PHAC are working closely with the provinces and territories to facilitate access to the COVID-19 vaccine for staff in accordance with the priority groups identified by NACI. CSC has health care workers who provide close, direct care to inmates diagnosed with COVID-19 and who work in congregate living settings. We are working closely with provinces to ensure vaccines are prioritized for these workers in the first phase.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, CSC has implemented rigorous infection prevention and control measures at its sites. Vaccines provide an additional measure to limit the spread of the virus and is key to further protect everyone.

Quotes

“The health and safety of our employees, inmates, and the public is a top priority for the Correctional Service of Canada. This is very welcome news, as we know vaccines are a critical way to limit the spread of COVID-19. We will continue working with our public health partners, unions and stakeholders to roll out measures that help protect everyone during this public health pandemic.”     

Anne Kelly, CSC Commissioner

Poetry Corner: “The Bluebeard Cafe”

The Bluebeard Cafe

They laughed at us
saying we were rowdy and drunk greasy punks
and kicked our ass out into the grasp of the unwelcome cold
to spoil those buggers week-end treat
was going to be a nasty feat so we locked the doors and mixed them a cocktail that would cause any drinker to flush

Accompanied by screams
so it seemed as we warmed our hands in the sweet and sickly smell of the fire

Robert K. Stephen

Poetry Corner: “Go west young man”

Go west young man

gasping
retching
tumbles rivers of foamy beer
spilling to the pavement
encircling rivers of half digested macaroni
while its stumbling moaning creator
wends homeward to bed
and
ready to leap like a tiger upon its unprepared toilers
tomorrow

Robert K. Stephen

Poetry Corner: “Cheap Eats”

Cheap Eats

Bill and Mona went to ********* for the all American meal
disguised cereal
hamburgers, fries and shakes
it weren’t but minutes later that Bill was seized by the shakes
and Moana began to groana
apparently the deal on a great meal
made their stomachs scream for an appeal
the pain became impossible to beat
and shortly after the ambulance took them to a treatment centre
stomachs being emptied by a cruel looking machine
and the goo that emerged looked ever so mean
the moral of the story is even if you get back change from a five dollar
you are going to be sick and holler
but if you insist on not taking my word
and being a total nerd
make sure if you eat at ******* regularly
to soon reserve a place at your local cemetery

Robert K. Stephen

Poetry Corner: “The historians”

The historians

contained in the pens
the scribes of rulers
attend to the justifications of the slaughter
one by one or by the thousands

throats slit and bodies thrown on the hooks
and guilty historians white lie in the books
justify the hero crooks

blind to the fact that millions were took
by Google, Facebook, Livingstone and Cook