November 30, 2023Poem

I plant my foot,

losscitypoliticsmemorytimeidentity

I plant my foot,

Never is it still

Long enough to take root.

The echo of it’s fall

Follows in my wake

Through the long nights

Hollowed into valleys

Where the unwary

Falter

Before tall gates

Locked with deadbolts

That never were alive

But are guardians of the damned.

If you believe

In Justice

Whatever that might mean

In a world of avarice

Where democracy is

Subservient to the wealthy

With more power than

Common sense.

And young boys,

Farmers lads

Those who pull the plough,

Till the land,

Tend the flocks

Smelt the ore

Build the fire

Sanctify the damned

Are as lonely soldiers

Mired in the memory

Of combat,

The best of us

Those who truly gave,

Lying in wait

Born to be forlorn,

Practised in fealty

To oleaginous oligarchs

And robber barons

The plunderers and thieves,

Poor souls

With matchwood handcarts

Wait before the gates

For what they will

Never receive.

I see no resurrection

Or hope of a reprieve.

As my foot always falls

In silence

Until it hits the ground

And the echo

Of its falling

Is all I hear

Lost in the darkness, I have found.