Why

do these dirty cheapwinedrinking
skinny downandouts with only one leg and bad teeth
who hang around in the square smoking
whilst thickset hardworking men
in royal blue overalls come with hammers
to fix the paving stones
and keep the pale tourists in shorts
safe from tripping up and falling over
and perhaps contracting septicaemia
and needing permanent healthcare

and whilst lactating mothers
wheel their little ones in perambulators
and stop to gossip about this and that
and then shove off to buy disinfectant
and something for the tea
when their husbands come home
with tales of responsible graft
and flawed management
and the possibility of a promotion…

why do these wasters with straggly beards
and a funny look in their eyes
have to make so much
noise about it all ?