Middle-Class Heroes
"Hello... What have we here? A young lady! To what do I owe this pleasant surprise, my pretty one? How may I be of service this dark and wintry night? Ah, I see. You wish me to look into the future... your future. After GCSEs, A-levels, university... After your first badly paid job in advertising... Okay, my pretty, just cross my palm with plastic, And I'll see what I can do... Wait! The fog is lifting!" I see oriental paper globes hanging like decomposing cocoons while exotic candles overload the dusty air with their stale perfume And I see lentils, beans, seaweed and rice in jars on the windowsill And it ain't hardly enough to feed the mice running behind the lines of allergy pills All these things will come to pass when heroes of the middle class face up to their responsibilities I see an Indian fertility God he's got thirty seven limbs to spare And tasteless tie-dyed tablecloths that double up as evening wear And I see naked bodies twist and turn on the futon of dreams fulfilled But their three-year-old kid seems unconcerned he'd rather swallow all those allergy pills I see unspeakable vulgarity institutionalised mediocrity infinite tragedy Rise up little souls - join the doomed army Fight the good fight - wage the unwinnable war Elegance against ignorance Difference against indifference Wit against shit My words fly up to heaven, my thoughts remain below Words said without feeling never to heaven go... All these things will come to pass when heroes of the middle-class face up, repent, and pay the price for accidentally creating life An oversight for which they must atone and sacrifice their own