there had been a few recently
one fell from the sky
another found slave labour
in Arctic conditions too much
for his indefatigable heart
then, a callous shooting
in an Alicante car park
led to a burnt out car
some singularly precise
others incurred the dismissive use
of the dreadful term
collateral damage,
for example, aircrew
or members of the Salisbury public
an English police officer
a public cinema
the people of Chechnya
Syria, Ukraine
“There will be others”
we have been advised
the politics of fear
has replaced that old chestnut
the politics of envy
for who longs to replace the Czar?
~
CLP 25/10/2024
Journey of Words 