1

What does a brickie need to get the wall
Exactly right? Besides well-fired bricks
And rudimentary training in the tricks
Of the trade, a clear eye and a steady hand.

And what of last century's mill-bound weavers?
Cotton from east and west and hills of coal
To power looms; above the din they call
And lip read what the tackler says.

Every dwelling place if it's to thrive
Needs carers to prodigiously expend
Their energy on chores — to clean and shop and tend
The children and the sick and keep the love alive.

2

In this our scientific age, we trust
That experts will be able to resolve
Those common problems that may well involve,
If not afflict, mere ordinary mortals.

"Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased?"
Macbeth's question stayed unanswered then,
But may be answered now. "A course of
ECT may do the trick. But if
It doesn't we can try a different set
Of pills you've had before." "And when these
Fail?" "We'll substitute this pill for that."