Sending Tanks
I understand but don’t rejoice;
Steps may be both sad and vital.
In Prague in sixty-eight they said
That no one argues with a tank.
How right they were, although one man,
Brave as hell at Tiananmen,
Stood firm and stopped some in their tracks.
Now ministers of every hue
Queue up to mount these phallic toys,
The pitiless monsters of hate,
Murder machines for far-flung ...
Friday 27th January 2023 4:47 pm
Letter from Ukraine
Lone husbands shed tears at birthday greetings,
Texted by their wives, estranged in the West.
Today’s public face of chilly winter,
The old man shivers for the cameras.
Helpless, like a baby, he tries language,
But no one cares. The caravan has moved on
To the banter of fighters in the East,
Joshing weakly as they scoop up bodies.
Life stirs somehow beneath a bombed buildin...
Tuesday 24th January 2023 7:56 am
Tchaikovsky
Should I listen to Tchaikovsky
At the opera or ballet?
Should I enjoy his symphonies,
In recordings by the Hallé?
The ‘Little Russian’ tests our taste;
Some say it denigrates Ukraine.
And what about the Eighteen-Twelve’s
Bombastic cannon-ball refrain?
Divide the artist from his art?
That’s not the point; this artist’s great.
It’s not his fault where he was b...
Sunday 22nd January 2023 9:16 am
Prayer for Ukraine
Does anyone here believe in God?
Surely, if you believe in God,
You believe, for all its faults, in peace,
And there’s precious little sign of that.
Men dressed in gaudy robes and giant hats,
With pots of incense which they wave about,
Will bless all sorts of fighting and atrocity.
Blessed are the warmakers now, it seems.
That said, we know God is out there somewh...
Tuesday 17th January 2023 8:19 am
Zero Sum
Think pointless wars in places like Ukraine,
Where ungrown men are daily bashed to bits.
The battle rages on through sun and rain
And morning's loss foretells a later gain.
Lines move or bend, but finish up the same,
As reinforcements make sure each piece fits.
The casualties have no time to explain
The part as zero-sum pawns in this game.
The dead, we claim, like...
Saturday 14th January 2023 5:30 pm
Without Remorse
The blood of innocents spreads like a flood,
covering cities and fields
because a delirious egomaniac, without remorse,
needs to be named in history books
Cities and villages are turned into rubble
because a fiend, without remorse,
decides to restore an empire
Widows and orphans perambulate the streets
because a diminished despicable man,
without remorse or sha...
Thursday 12th January 2023 4:04 pm
Last Man Standing
(On 3 January 2023, Russia announced that 89 of its soldiers had been killed in an attack on Makiivka, Donetsk. Ukraine claimed that the number of dead was 400.)
I once travelled home on a London train.
It was packed; people pressed against the doors.
As I squeezed aboard, I noticed a sign:
‘Capacity four hundred; eighty-nine
Seated, the rest standing.’ I looked along
T...
Thursday 5th January 2023 9:34 pm
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