by Mike Mesterton-Gibbons

“Striking workers disrupted deliveries, public transport and schools…
in a second nationwide protest over President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to make French workers
wait longer before retirement.”
—The Independent

It’s too un-French to work till sixty-four.
The sacred social contract validates
State pensions once you’re sixty-two, no more,
To fund your golden years. In other states
Of Europe, they may work till sixty-six
Or more, but if you constantly perform
Up frigid roofs, or down a trench with picks—
Not in an office, where your bum stays warm
From sitting in a comfy armchair—then
Retirement can’t come soon enough … Relent,
Emmanuel, or we will strike again!
Not one of us believes the pot is spent
Completely, that’s why France forbids you to
Hike pension age—it’s too un-French to do!