Peanuts And Truffles Poem by David Chalk

If you pay peanuts
You get monkeys
It often has been said
But if you pay in truffles
We’ve all learnt
You get Pigs instead

Is there not some middle ground
Upon which to stand
With pay that’s fit for man
For work by brain or hand

But in our sorry country
That idea’s almost dead
As truffles for pigs
Is great idea
To all the over-fed

But paying fair wages
To the bottom of the heap
Always seems to cost too much
To those who their money keep.

An honest days work for an honest days pay
Was once a common refrain
But now the money’s trickled up
That idea has been slain

And for those who rule the country
It’s a price dirt cheap
As the poor will pay the price
While the wealthy their riches firmly keep.