Scottish PSC demo in Edinburgh. Photo: Gillian Grant
By Steve Pottinger
this happens/ how there is a moment of doing
nothing/ and how another moment follows/ how
you were going to speak out but then you stayed
silent/ how you remembered what your boss
had to say about all this/ and considered your
career/ because god knows you’ve worked hard
to get to where you are/ you’d be a fool to throw
it all away/ how you thought twice about signing
the petition/ because when has a petition ever
changed anything/ and found it was easier not to/
how that documentary you could have watched
clashed with your favourite sitcom/ and we all
need a laugh/ don’t we/ how writing to your MP
would just be pissing in the wind/ because aren’t
all politicians bastards/ and boycotting products
is all well and good/ but who can be bothered to
read labels while you shop/ how marches are just
a waste of time/ and you paid hard-earned money
for that sofa/ and it is too hot/ too cold/ too wet
out there/ you have so many good reasons to
stay home/ and it is one moment of doing nothing/
and another moment follows/ and months have
passed before you know it/ and you have done
nothing/ and you are not a bad person/ but you
wish they would stop banging on about it/ those
people who do talk/ who do write/ who do march/
are they obsessed/ or what/ are they extremists/
because you are not a bad person/ you are not/
but months have gone by/ and you have said
nothing/ you have still said nothing/ and we know
now/ this is how it happens/ how evil triumphs/
this is how it always happens/ how it has always
happened/ this/ one moment of doing nothing/
another following behind/ is all/ all that evil needs.
