Found wanting

I want biscuits
With chocolate chips,
Orange squash not lime,
Jaffa cakes
And the Disney Channel on.

(I want rice
Without bits of grit,
Water without slime,
And to escape
From needling flies and searing sun.)

I want a Mega Mighty Robo-Fighter
With a triple action stun gun.
And I want my sister
Out of my way.

(I want the fighting to stop.
And I want my brother back.
Even if only for a day.)

I want to be on TV,
Posing with guitar on 'Top of the Pops’,
An Instant star, sullen in ripped jeans,
With everybody wanting to be me.

(I want not to be on TV,
The subject of the Monday documentary,
Naked, possessionless, unsmiling,
With everybody glad that they’re not me.)

I want to leave school
A.s.a.p.

(I want to live in a land
Where education is free.)

I want a smart flat
And a fast car
And a fat bank balance.

(I want a chance.)

Of course I want peace
And justice and all that.

(I want a world where no-one is found wanting.)

by Marion Adams