Strong boys of blue
take it in turns
to hit one girl
with their truncheons.
Fifteen armed lads!
But no one dies;
so that’s all right;
hitting the slag
for defiance
and violence
against brave thugs
in whom one trusts.
Not all at once:
one at a time;
and then they’re posed
in photographs:
some boys in red,
the colour splashed,
into glory.
Each fears his life
is in danger.
So it’s all right.
-----
UNFRAMED GRAPHICS by Lawrence Upton
42 pages; A5 paperback; colour cover
Writers Forum 978 1 84254 277 4
wfuk.org.uk/blog
----
Lawrence Upton
Dept of Music
Goldsmiths, University of London
|