Economically
Viable
As
the torque wrench break back clicks eighty Newton metres,
The
final stud of the final wheel of the final car … peters …
Out.
Onto
the final transporter and the factory’s left with … nowt.
So
we became too expensive and were made brutally aware,
“Je suis désolé
mon ami anglais, mais vous êtes … trop cher.”
Capitalism
reared it’s ugly head and dug chasms of ‘have’ and ‘have not’,
While Ryton
found out that ‘ugly’ is the only head capitalism’s got.
“It just
isn’t economically viable to manufacture Peugeots here,
We were
frightened that our profits wouldn’t be as FAT next year!
It just
isn’t economically viable, it makes no economic sense.”
In months
from now we’ll be talking about the Ryton Plant in the past
tense.
“It just
isn’t economically viable, to sustain these people’s lives
The fathers,
mothers, sons and daughters, lovers, husbands, wives.”
Bill’s
eighteen years of service will be tossed out in the gutter
“What are
we going to do now Dad, to earn our bread and butter?
Will we have
a holiday Dad? A week in Anglesey or Rhyl?
We could save
money if we go camping, is it economically viable still?”
What’s
gonna happen to our family Dad?
Will we end
up strapped for cash?
If me and Mom
are not economically viable, Dad,
Then will you
throw us out with the trash?”
Economically
viable.
It’s such a
cold and clinical term
That PSA
detergent has come to wipe out every germ of
Right-on
Ryton vigour, the stuff that made us great,
When the
Nazis blew our roofs off, we rebuilt them slate by slate.
From aircraft
engines to Rootes, then Chrysler sold us for a buck,
We rode the
crest of a wave for ages, but now we’re out of luck.
Everyone
said the writing was on the wall for Ryton
The
futures looking pretty dim, it’s not a very bright ‘un
The
dice were unfairly weighted, the plant has been deemed unreliable
‘The
drive of your life’ has run out of fuel, it’s not economically viable.