Falling, or Jumping?
How hugely much was determined
by my birth – my parents, family,
class, country, its economy –
the circumstances of my rebirth.
How far-flung the apple from the tree?
What credit in what I am now?
All the effort for nothing somehow,
swimming hard to stay where I’ve been.
Death will offer me a short interlude,
is this a snakes and ladders game?
Do we roll random dice to play?
What birth will it bring me into?
Can I swing it to land where I choose
– is there nothing at all I can do?
Pieces of Five 