Before I read the poem, I need to explain a few words in it. If you do not have a job, you can go to a Job Centre, where you can find details of jobs that are available, and where you may be able to get financial help and help with training for a new job.

　　Self- Assembly kits are like the furniture from IKEA that we talked about a few weeks ago, which comes in a flat cardboard box, and you have to assemble it yourself.

　　And 0870 telephone numbers are phone numbers that begin with 0870. They are often used by big companies for their call centres. Generally, when you phone you get a recorded message asking you to press 1 for customer service, 2 for details of your account and so on. You then wait for ages while the telephone plays banal music to you, interrupted from time to time by a message saying that you are in a queue and that someone (usually called “a customer service advisor” or some dreadful modern name like that) will talk to you as soon as possible. 0870 telephone numbers are a major cause of stress in modern Britain! Well, I think so, anyway.

　　Here is Margaret’s poem She has called it Phoo to New.

　　Give me a simple life

　　With a book by the fire

　　A stool to rest my feet on

　　And a cushion for my head.

　　Free me from mobiles, emails, ipods,

　　Phones, computers, cars, pollution,

　　Hospitals, Work or Job Centres,

　　Motorbikes or cars with screaming sirens.

　　Give me a simple life

　　With a book by the fire

　　A stool to rest my feet on

　　And a cushion for my head.

　　Don’t throw at me Self-Assembly kits

　　Where I have to hunt for all the bits

　　Don’t tell me I can order online

　　Or phone 0870 and wait in a queue.

　　Give me a simple life

　　With a book by the fire

　　A stool to rest my feet on

　　And a cushion for my head!