It’s just doors and walls 
just a tiny spot of land
just plastic and wood
just tubes and metal 
for water and heat
cables for light
a chair to sit down on between the walls
to rest your weary bones
walls to protect from the wind and cold
the roof from rain and elements
and it’s all a trap,
it’s all set up
they have us on a hamster’s wheel
just to have four walls
and a roof from the elements
and it gets heavier
the burden of rent
the pressure
until you can’t afford to eat
or put on the heat
just breathe and wait
in the cold between four walls and a roof
not to mention the floor
although we get walked over as well
and there will come a time
when we all know when
when to stand up
and say no more no more to this madness.

Declan Geraghty is a writer and poet from Dublin, with poetry published in The Brown Envelope and The Cry of the Poor anthologies. First published online in Culture Matters, April 2022.