Neck of the Family

It’s cold on this street, cold benches, cold wind. I don’t remember the last time I wasn’t cold. And sick. I prefer sick. I’d rather be warm and sick then healthy and cold. The old man keeps talking about the new minister of finance, Colbert. He thinks there’s going to be good news coming our way. I told him Le Nord married Marie Charron, the daughter of one of the king’s council, and got her 100,000 livres dowry. Heard it in a shop in town. That means he won’t be buying any of our flock! Ha. I laugh at the old man. But he doesn’t listen to me.
So long as I darn his socks and stitch his shirt he ignores me altogether. I feel sorry for him. He actually thinks there may be sunshine around the corner. Not me. I know these regulations being set are only going to hurt people who are hurting already. I saw someone in a pillory yesterday right in the middle of the city, the youngest boy started crying when he saw the bloke. I guess he broke the regulation a third time. That’s all it takes. It isn’t hard to break the regulations, they are way too strict. You can’t craft perfection out of poor resources, what does Colbert expect? The man is cold as can be. The minister of finance for a king with no wits can’t be any easy job. But he’s warm, and that’s what I want to be. Well here's his picture, you get the idea.