Merit

1. Stock Exchange gamblers arrive in town,
   Brets and Barts in their pinstriped suits,
   Quick flutter on the commodities market,
   Celebrate with champagne at 11 AM,
   Gains reported in the Financial Times,
   Visible for all to see and admire.
   Declared epitome of Thatcherite merit,
   Measured in luck and money.

2. Spoilt preppy schoolboy off to Eton,
   Debagged in the lavatory on initiation,
   Pillow fight wars waged in the dormitory,
   The approved version of national history,
   The gift of the gab for political combat,
   Forging friendships with ties that bind,
   The merit of position in a world of privilege,
   Measured in wealth and class.

3. A million inventors toil at their benches,
   Young and old striving for perfection,
   A thousand catch the eye of the Prince,
   A hundred are summoned for assessment,
   Ten are selected for a televised award.
   The banks and the markets open to them,
   To them go the merit of future success.
   Measured in audience appeal.

4. Born in a slum on the wrong side of town,
   Struggles at school under lousy tuition,
   Held back by the antics of unruly peers,
   An unskilled job with miserable pay,
   Wages propped up by government support,
   Rendered redundant and onto the dole,
   Merit unseen that puts food on the table,
   Measured in futile determination.

5. Budding career with a leading-edge skill,
   Disruptive illness invades the family,
   Forced to choose between family or career,
   Opted for caring with no means to work,
   Onto the dole but disbelieved by medics,
   Reviled by society, castigated by authority,
   Retired on State pension of £92.49 a week,
   Good-for-nothing layabout devoid of merit,
   Measured in love, strife and moral courage.

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© 24 August 2022 Robert John Morton [see also: merit & awards]