"Dumping Ground"

Little girl, smaller boy

Once their parents bundle of joy

What we gonna do with you?

Fancy a drink down the pub

There you have the ‘modern’ rub

No sat outside with lemonade & crisps

Too many nonces to take the risks

No childcare…that costs money

Being a loving parent isn’t funny

Off you go kids read some books

Where’s the harm in that?

So what if they’re not with me

Across the shops I can almost see

Just the other side of the square

Getting you out of my hair

Dumping you in the LIBRARY!

Tell me, what makes a parent

Think it’s safe to play
Out of sight, out of mind
Keeping an eye on them
Such a bind!

Daughter of eight, son of five

Charging round & being a pain

All alone, this is insane!

It’s a Madeleine waiting to happen

Or a Jamie Bulger led away

Then it will be time for blame

Sullying my good colleagues names

We are NOT baby sitters

Not being paid to care for your critters

What on earth are you thinking

Dumping your kids

While you’re out drinking?

Giving you the benefit of the doubt

If that’s what you’re up to

When you’re out.

You might just be eating tasty grub

But by the time you finish your plate

The sick bastards have got them

And you’ll be too late.

Chances of happening

Are a million to one

But is it worth the risk

To lose your son?

Dulwich Poet  15^th March 2013

( I work in a public library. A parent left their two young children unsupervised, while they sat inside a local pub a couple of hundred yards away)