Skip to main content
Work with the NEU
Four poems by Paul Birtill
Well Versed is edited by JODY PORTER

Unemployed

Nobody had any money in those days,
we got by borrowing of each other's giro.
Then someone mentioned in the pub that
you got fifty pounds cash if you donated
your body to medical science after death,
and a whole gang of us trooped up to the
medical school to enquire. 'We've stopped
doing that now' we were told. Too many people
were registering in Liverpool. 'Have you thought
about joining the army?' said the woman with a
wry smile on her face.



The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
21st Century Poetry / 29 July 2026
29 July 2026

by Mary Gilonne

21st Century Poetry / 24 July 2026
24 July 2026

by Alistair Findlay

21st Century Poetry / 22 July 2026
22 July 2026

by Mike Jenkins

ALEXANDER FOOTE
Features / 24 September 2025
24 September 2025

TONY FOX invites readers to come and hear the story of the remarkable Liverpudlian International Brigader Alexander Foote