Denys E. W. Jones - Burberry Goes to China
In Wales there is a valley, <br />Which isn’t very green. <br />The hills are bare, wild flowers are rare, <br />Trees few and far between. <br /> <br />Beneath the ground lay this dale’s wealth – <br />Much coal in vast, rich seams. <br />A town, Treorchy, sprang up there, <br />Strung out along one street. <br /> <br />The winding-gear whirred night and day, <br />The shafts sank ever deeper. <br />Until they found importing coal <br />From Katowic’ was cheaper. <br /> <br />So then the Rhondda pits were closed, <br />The jobs went to the Poles. <br />The men hung up their Davy Lamps, <br />And signed on for the Dole. <br /> <br />Yet still the women earned their keep, <br />For them there was some work – <br />Down at the Burberry Factory <br />That churned out polo-shirts. <br /> <br />(The famous Burberry label, <br />Around the world well-known. <br />Wherever folk have cash to waste, <br />You’ll find their products worn.) <br /> <br />Now, like the mines, that Factory’s closed, <br />It’s stitched its final shirt - <br />Upped sticks lock, stock to China, <br />Where labour’s cheap as dirt. <br /> <br />Yes, rates of pay are low out there, <br />‘Cos Unions are forbid, <br />And workers toil for sixteen hours <br />To earn a coupla quid. <br /> <br />The Management is pleased as Punch, <br />Shareholders get their Div. <br />But in that bleak Welsh valley now, <br />Pray, how are they to live? <br /> <br />Next time you buy a Burberry, <br />Umbrella, mac or shirt, <br />Recall that scarred Community <br />That’s been left with no work. <br /> <br /> <br />(10/4/07)<br /><br />Denys E. W. Jones<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem..../burberry-goes-to-ch
