I’m worried, I’m sad, that things seem so bad
For the child today, with nowhere to play.
They’ve taken the commons, the playing fields
For cash, other ploys, which only reveals
How thoughtless they are, how narrow of mind,
When money means more than a mind refined.
By childish pursuits, not jointly with friends,
Before a screen. No! As nature intends.
Play is a prelude, a forerun of life,
A chance for experience, to sample strife.
How many I wonder come home alone
To an empty house, as none would condone
As the best idea, the good of the boy.
Economics it is, that force this ploy,
When aspirations are advert driven
And they hope one day they’ll be forgiven
For criminal lack of care and concern,
Not replicated in future, in turn.
Gone are the days when we walked everywhere.
With traffic so sparse we could cycle there,
Play games on the common, row on the lake,
Be friends with the cops, and all the time take
Our simple pleasures without fear for life,
Not hurry and stress and crime that is rife.
It isn’t fair, we must stop the rot now,
The system must change, the question is how?
Before houses take up all vacant land,
Making recovery impossible, and
Rubber stamping all the mistakes again.
Leaving the children without a domain.
To play in safety – we need a campaign,
That is sensible, with energy and cash,
That’s not all talk, and not something rash,
That is here to day and well designed
For a future, the sort we all have in mind.