The Mindful Debt Adviser

I’m mindful that it’s Sunday

And today feels like the first day of spring

There’s a magpie on the feeder. Just the one.

For sorrow

Not today, come back tomorrow.

And in any case, there’s another in the tree

So that’s OK.

Two for joy for me. Yay.

Thoughts turn to clients

The week ahead, they’re in my head

The one that told me Lowell phones them 10 times a day

Why is it so hard

To get them to acknowledge

It’s statute-barred?

I’m mindful of another, with DRO fee paid

Who waits until the bailiffs come

Then asks what progress I have made.

But there’s no more that I can do

The DRO

Is ready to go

Just say the word, it’s up to you.

I’m mindful of the mental health of clients without means

‘Please not another Foodbank voucher

If I never see another tin of Smartprice beans…’

All they want to do is feed their weans

I’m mindful that they just need cash

So they can be

Like you and me

Choosing what we want, with dignity

Paying more each passing week

Those supermarkets have a bloody cheek, don’t they?

And I’m mindful that it’s April now

The fraying, flimsy safety net is threadbare, rotten, catching nothing but dust and air

The increased bills like harbingers of doom, loom about

We peruse our online banking and think of things we could do without

Glasses? Dentist? Meal out? Takeaway

Fancy biscuits? Do we really need those fancy biscuits? They’re 20p more than own brand

But own brand have just a faint trace of chocolate and taste like congealed sand.

I’m mindful that right now, the sun feels hot

So hallelujah the heating can stay off

But even if I use no energy at all

That standing charge will ultimately be reminding me

That there will be no money left

For fancy biscuits (I’m bereft)

Anyway, it’s Sunday and I guess

I’ve to be grateful for what I’ve got

Like the panting old dog sat by my side

Who farts when she coughs

And has the fanciest biscuits money can buy

(She won’t eat Smartprice, I’ve tried)

And gets me up at 4 o’clock in the morning for a wee

Silly old thing. She can’t help it.

I’m mindful that one day that will be me.