Manipulated Minds!

MANIPULATED MINDS!

I remember this advertisement from way, way, way, way back!

And I remember never doubting it was true!

I knew that where my chocolate was made there was a girl

Who poured the milk, not one glassful, not two!

No one-and-a-half was the answer, a magical amount,

Which made the chocolate taste exactly right!

I could see her in my mind's eye, pouring it in each block,

With a look of very obvious delight!

I pictured her in the factory never tiring of her task,

Smiling sweetly as she measured-out each glass!

But that was in the days when I still had a childlike mind,

And childhood, as we know, soon has to pass.

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Now I watch my little grandsons as they gaze at the TV,

Goggle-eyed at all the visions that they see;

'It's not real life' I tell them 'It's only make-believe'

But I get the feeling they're ignoring me!

I only hope the monsters and the dragons and the bats,

The ghosts and frightening aliens and their ilk

Affect their future lives no more than the little girl in blue

Affected me, when she was pouring out the milk!

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IMMERSION!

One day in summer I espied this little girl at play,

Swimming in the shallows on a lovely sunny day.

She'd been told to keep her hat dry, of that I'm pretty sure,

For Australian children learn when young what a good sun-hat is for.

They're protected from the elements, and cosseted and cared-for

But I tremble when I think about what they must be prepared-for.

See! Out on the horizon, a coal-ship on its way

Carrying coal to China. We see them every day.

We export our pollution, the coal that others burn,

But maybe in the future all the problems will return;

When the seas invade our coastline and our heat becomes intense

We may regret our actions and then wish we'd had more sense!

So enjoy the happy life-style you've been born to little one!

I hope you're never threatened by the sea or by the sun!
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