The New Needy

Who might have imagined
when we were young
carefully buying whole food
groceries, stretching our income
as best we could to feed and
clothe three infants, finding
entertainment and recreation
within ourselves and free-to-access
green public spaces, content to
live with basics now deemed
insufficient in today's world 
of advanced economies where
the basics we might never
have imagined now represent
life's integral needs. Now,
when we shop for our groceries
we have ample means to pay
the basics and beyond. We
avail ourselves with casual
disregard for cost. And among
our weekly targets is a basket
of non-perishable foodstuffs
to be deposited for the local
food bank for those in society
whose needs have grown well
beyond the gentle poverty
in which we once lived.