In shadows between tall buildings,
the homeless huddle, unaware
of the oligarchs’ stony stare,
of hands that rub together, grins
of greed and lack of care
as they survey their monopoly
of wealth and goods, give empathy
the boot in their quest for pieces
in the game, doff top hats in sycophancy
as they drive their cars and cruise on liners,
wasting resources and killing the planet,
stamping on the rest of humanity.
But one day, coming soon, I moot,
the boot will be on the other foot.
Kim M. Russell, 18th March 2025
This Tuesday at the dVerse Poets Pub, Sanaa is hosting Poetics and she would like us to play Monopoly with a twist.
I chose the alternative option, which really appealed to me:
“Imagine a twisted version of the classic Monopoly board, where the game is no longer just about wealth and property but a reflection of society’s darker undercurrents.”
We should think along the lines of corruption. We could visualize the board as “a cityscape under a brooding sky, where the colors are muted, and shadows stretch long across the streets”, and “the game pieces as corrupted figures—perhaps a banker with hollow eyes or a thimble that clinks ominously as it moves”, conveying “the despair of players trapped in a cycle of debt and desperation, reflecting on the price of their ambition”.
Or we can also consider the voice of the Monopoly game itself, watching the players with an omniscient gaze, recounting the cycles of hope and ruin.
writing in north norfolk 
Indeed… we are seeing the worst capitalism can offer… when monopoly is played with real people’s life you know that reckoning will come one day.
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This is gorgeously rendered, Kim! I like how you have portrayed the darker side and can envision them wasting resources and killing the planet.
Thank you so much for writing to the prompt ❤️❤️
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Thank you very much, Sanaa.
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all so true, too boot
much♡love
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Much love to you, Gillena.
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So true, Kim, this is where we are, the oligarchs who
“give empathy
the boot in their quest for pieces
in the game,” 🥲
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Thank you, Merril.
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yes and how close Whitechapel is to Mayfair on the board – you have captured the underbelly here so well Kim
“hands that rub together, grins
of greed and lack of care”
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Thank you, Laura.
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This is very good, Kim.
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Thank you, Robbie!
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My pleasure
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The boot will come home to roost.
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And the meek shall transgress the board in a lowly boot! It’s too bad that our present titans of the tech industry don’t even feign sympathy with a coin or two when they stepp over the humble they first distracted then evicted …
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Oh when the day comes that the boot is on the other foot will be a grand day. Homeless huddled, unaware… until they are moved on or threatened with huge fines (happening here)…this world is so bereft of empathy and your poem illustrates this so well, Kim.
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Thank you Diane. Yes, I’m looking forward to the day when the boot is on the other foot.
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I hope you are right. Looking forward to that day.
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That closing couplet is a kicker in this indictment against those who rule over us. And they richly deserve it and the rock solid denouncement of their actions.
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Thanks so much, Dora.
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I agree, sometime they’ll find the boot is on the other foot. I wonder that the current mess was somehow going to happen, it seems to have been building for some time. Looking forward to the hope in the poem 🙂
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