POLITICAL Poem: Basic rights, by Mwelwa Chilekwa

Pay for your hunger
Pay for a roof over your head
Pay for your life

Year after year
The price tag for basic rights
Keeps increasing

Pay for your transport
Pay for the cold
Pay for your life

Healthcare is expensive, life is expensive
When you can’t afford it – die
What happens if you can’t afford that, too?

Pay for your pain
Pay for having a disease
Pay for your life

Cost of living: unforgiving
You are Capitalism’s villain
Pay with your life