Sunday 4 March 2012

Another clunk towards final detachment

It was some sort of reunion
I recognised so many of the faces
From medical school
They exchanged hugs and laughter rang out

A group moved towards me
I looked around anxiously
And slipped across the road
Down a small alleyway

I looked down to the ground
The sand was golden and soft
And all around were minarets
Ornate doors opened
And she walked with me

Out of the corner of my eye
I saw the sand move
Lying stretched out just below the surface
His face grimacing
He moved his shoulder
Making himself more comfortable

All around the others lay still
Their orbits empty

I wondered how often that happened?
That people got buried before they died?

I woke to the sound of the plane above
It was 05:30
And I was here once more

Tuesday 24 January 2012

Teaching the world a lesson

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-16690300

When the Americans were committing these atrocities people like me would say "how are you any different to Saddam and his henchmen"

The glib reply was "ah but we will be open, we will investigate, we will uncover, we will punish those who commit crimes"

And now we see what this means in practice

Does anyone remember how Uday was tried under instructions from his father for murder?

Thursday 5 January 2012

Dreams and nightmares

For nearly a year
I moved on

Then out of the blue
I remember

The images try to escape
I force the trapdoor shut

I never attended the Christmas office party
Until there was no-one else to organise one

I booked, I paid, I invited, I went
Not one but two

I survived the first
But broke down in the second

He sat to my right
And I was trapped

He kept on asking
Until I started talking

And remembering


He was so quiet in the morning
But on return
Drenched by the rain
He was energised
He had spoken to his cousin
They had found a buyer
For the house on the river

I remembered

And I dreamt

Cycling down the empty road
Trapped in the mosque
Climbing to the exit
Up the spiral rusting metal steps
Complete with calligraphy

Reaching the roof
To find
The trapdoor
Being pushed down on my head