on this day

by Aonghas MacNeacail

on this day,
seeing every laird and clan chief
(at the level of shares and coins
being tight in the pocket) as they
swim in the firths of paunch
and, under their shoes the bent
backs of the others a living pavement
on which they would strut
their pride in regardless steps,
over the long stories of peoples
who set the narrative, poem and song,
of their own history at liberty
with the hope that freedom is promised -
all we ask is equality, they
say, between table and mouth, and
that we can walk where we choose,
expecting there to be food
for body and mind, to be
right proper direct, with no delay
before us and no strife - give
us equality, give us
equality at will, lest we take
equality for ourselves, at will