Inspired by the theme of the illusion of human power, a topic covered brilliantly by Shelley in "Ozymandias" and by Imtiaz Dharker in "Tissue". They cleverly mocked the vanity of the powerful, but those in power now are still leading privileged lives while they exploit those without it.
Power
Tantalising, it slides and slips
just beyond our reach. Elusive,
it squirms and wriggles
in and out of slick, shining towers,
feeding as it goes, absorbing,
gorging on the secrecy,
the handshakes, the manipulation.
It winds around the limbs
of the friends of friends,
their husbands and wives,
the people who are "like us"
and whispers money into their ears.
It opens its jaws and drips venom
on the poor.
Some pause their labour,
look up to the sky
and chase the meagre coins
that shower down on them. They
scramble and weep in gratitude,
only glimpsing the Serpent as it
