Electoral Prayer - Diane Scantlebury

Let only words of sincerity
Trickle from your lips
Nothing syrupy or sticky toffee sweet,
Nor idle boasts or pledges
Or hollow promises you'll never honour, or keep,
Tomorrow will it be worthless
If you say it all today?
The poor will still get poorer
The super rich will never pay,
You may try to seduce us with rhetoric
To place our mark against your name,
But when election fever has cooled and died down
Will we find that nothing has changed?
Don't promise it all, but deliver none
Just to avoid an opinion poll dip,
When lives and futures are in your hands
Let your words be sincere and of substance,
As they trickle from your lips.

Diane Scantlebury