Austerity Returns

 

I have lived through years of austerity

in the long and distant past

Those post war days of rationing and frugality

when clothes were mended and food was scarce

Days, weeks, months and years of being without

bereft of the solace of television or mobile phones

Gardens designed to sport flowers were turned

into vegetable patches

People walked for miles to avoid the cost of a bus ticket

and libraries were full of books which were read

from cover to cover

 

I have turned back the clock seventy five years

but now I see difficult times ahead

Money is in short supply, luxuries foregone

and holidays taken at home instead of abroad

The pennies are being counted

and domestic life has regressed

 

Window shopping and fewer purchases

electricity and gas used sparingly

Days of anxiety and jobs lost

taxes increased and entertainment curtailed

We have travelled full circle

leaving behind us a bonanza of plenty

This change of fortune is not without some merit

as we once more value what we have

and not what we want

We have been brought to heel

and forced to face an unpleasant reality

It has become a time to re assess and revalue

to see our lives more closely

and take on additional responsibilites

To value others, to lend a helping hand

and to accept what many in this world

have never had or dreamed of having