‘Needs must!’ little Annie’s mother whispered, As she pocketed the sweets.

Little Annie glowed with delight as she ravaged the stolen goods.

The buggy careered along the cobblestones, And Annie’s mother ducked under rows of sheets.

Annie and mother had moved upstairs, downstairs was flooded.

Slum landlord in a slum town.

Father rarely came home.

‘Needs must!’ little Annie’s mother whispered, As she stole the coal.

Little Annie bathed in the heat as winds battered the windows.

Her pigtails bounced as she jumped up and down, In a chequered dress smuggled home in the buggy.

Annie and mother had moved elsewhere,

Kind to the landlord was Annie’s mother;

A lecherous millionaire.

‘Needs must!’ said teenage Annie as she peeked into the drawer,

Stealing the test paper.

Teenage Annie glowed with delight as she savaged the exam.

Her tenacity landed her an envied position, She advanced on her back under heaps of sheets.

Annie’s mother had moved elsewhere, a home for the elderly,

Needing Annie’s neglectful care, or her employer the millionaire.

‘Needs must!’ sniggered Annie as she took mother’s cards,

With purse and ring.

Dear Annie, she meant well organising bills and pawning things.

Her voluptuousness attracted management, And up through the ranks she rose.

Annie’s mother moved elsewhere, buried cheaply without a care,

By her daughter Annie, the wicked and haughty millionaire.

‘Needs must!’ Snapped Ann as she fired poor, desperate staff.

‘Needs must!’ Reasoned Ann as she paid into political drafts.

‘Needs must!’ Asserted Ann as she married into money.

‘Needs must!’ Chirped Ann as her husband fell ill. ‘Needs must!’ Laughed Ann crediting his insurance bill.

‘Needs must!’

Dragged screaming from her cell where she spent so many years,

A pastor came to wipe away her tears.

An assurance he gave her before she sat in the chair, ‘Needs must, sweet Annie, as the Devil drives! ‘I have watched you harm others whilst your life thrives.

‘Needs must as the executioner forces you fair,

‘Needs must in hell, and I wait for you there.’