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Lay for the Day 18th
June
1583:
the first life insurance policy is taken out, covering the life of one
William Gibbons, a ships captain of London, for 12 months. The premium
was £383 6s 8d. According to one source, although he died within
a year, the insurers argued that the period of the policy was 12 months
of four weeks, and refused to pay out, setting something of a historical
trend for the insurance industry.
Today
is also the anniversary of the battle of Waterloo in 1815. Altogether
48,000 men British, French, German, Dutch and Belgian were
killed or wounded on the day.
M.I.A.
(Meanwhile Im Alive)
Blood on the carpet and blood
on the sofa,
A long black hack with a top-hatted chauffeur,
Its little things like this
Tell you that its over.
Meanwhile Im alive, meanwhile Im alive
Drowned or hanged or immolated,
Gassed or stabbed or decapitated.
One day youre on your feet
And the next youre crated.
Meanwhile Im alive, meanwhile Im alive
Fracture your skull when you
slip on a kerbstone,
Be tied to a stake and flambeed à la St Joan,
Snakebite, sudden fright, frostbite,
Choked on a fishbone.
Meanwhile Im alive, meanwhile Im alive
You could be hit by a loose
power line
Or fall down the shaft of a disued mine
Or go quietly in your sleep
In the early morning sunshine.
So give us love in heart and
deeds to achieve
And food and drink and air to breathe
And give us a little nudge
When its time to leave
And meanwhile Im alive, meanwhile Im alive
The
Children
from Play
The
Lay Reader: an archive of the poetic calendar
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