TRC Final Report

Volume 4

Chapter 5

Subsection 21

■ CONCLUSION (IN THE WORDS OF OTHERS)

A Worker’s Speech to a Doctor

We know what makes us ill.

When we are ill we are told

That it’s you who will heal us.

For ten years, we are told

You learned healing in fine schools

Built at the people’s expense

And to get your knowledge

Spent a fortune.

So you must be able to heal.

Are you able to heal?

When we come to you

Our rags are torn off us

And you listen all over our naked body.

As to the cause of our illness

One glance at our rags would

Tell you more. It is the same cause that wears out

Our bodies and our clothes.

The pain in your shoulder comes

You say, from the damp; and this is also the reason

For the stain on the wall of our flat.

So tell us:

Where does the damp come from?

Too much work and too little food

Make us feeble and thin.

Your prescription says:

Put on more weight.

You might as well tell a bullrush

Not to get wet.

How much time can you give us?

We see: one carpet in your flat costs

The fees you earn from

Five thousand consultations.

You’ll no doubt say

You are innocent.

The damp patch

On the wall of our flats

Tells the same story.⁵⁰