Things are getting worse . . . in verse

Sir -  I have no idea whether this will interest you, but I was urged to send it by the Wickersley Writers' Group Only names are changed.

"Society . . .  there's no such thing!" are words I once heard spoken.So how come this non-existent thing, appears now to be broken?

Look after number one, was the stark message I recall. It's decreed that individualism and enterprise are all.

City boys got their tax cut, quaffing champagne at this perk and this extra cash brought status, much deserved for their hard work.

Those clever money men played fast and loose with people's cash. And when the bubble burst it wasn't them who felt the crash.

Moguls used slick accountants to hide away their stacks. To make sure they didn't waste it, like the losers paying tax,

They made donations to the parties from their safe tax-haven stash. So no government would stop them, and dry up their party's cash.

MPs claimed their expenses, and what a lot they'd bought . All with our hard-earned money, such a pity they got caught!

Everyone is doing it, we're worth it, they all cried. We need the best designer goods, we mustn't be denied.

The press were hacking phones, to feed us all a daily diet Of gossip, and to know enough to keep the MPs quiet.

The media confronted us with everything we need. To encourage status- seeking and to ratchet up our greed.

So then the one day our streets were mobbed, the looters claimed their share. We're worth it and we'll have it too, so stop us if you dare!

We're all in this together- we've heard our leaders say, We too can use our Blackberries to help us get our way.

Expenses, bonuses, backhanders, bags of stolen goodies, MPs, bankers, bent policemen, feral yobs in hoodies.

Everybody's doing it, society's deranged. Greed's the driving principal; only names are changed.

Nicky Wheeliker, Grange Road, Rotherham.