Getting & Spending, Stretching & Bending

“Getting and spending we lay waste our powers”
Perhaps bending and stretching will renew them!
Splashing the cash is pointless while locked down
Physical jerks might herald rejuvenation
However it seems this pandemic has prompted
Both spending (on-line) and bending (in home aerobics)

So what are we to do with life?
Spending might bring us some consolation
As we tuck into juicy steaks and tasty treats
Then perhaps we might work some of that off
With stretching sessions with Joe Wicks or
Some other modish health guru

What’s the point of “getting”?  you may ask
In lock-down we have rummaged through
Our wardrobes only to lose ourselves
Among the countless hanging garments
Perhaps thus flailing about we might find
That this too requires stretching and bending

Mind you, for the many who now fear the threat of
Unemployment – with regular income vaporising
Getting and spending likely to grind to a halt
Thus the elasticity of their cache of savings
Subjected to unbridled stretching and bending
The burgeoning overdraft a contorting of economic powers

Ken Fisher

First line: The world is too much with us (Wordsworth)