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Clash

This poem was written 9 years ago but seems to have more resonance now than it did then.

Clash

She limped along Old Trafford road

her helping hand a stick of ash,

two Tesco bags increased her load,

her costume emphasised the clash

 

of cultures on a bright Spring day

when European arms and legs

in ghastly white are on display

by Boots and Claire’s and Next and Greggs.

 

Her jet black burqa stole the eye,

its out-of-placeness seemed acute

to most Caucasian passers by

whilst some thought it brought disrepute.

 

Her face looked tired her eyes so sad,

life seemed to be for her too hard,

as if the burqa made her bad

and she and all her kind were tarred

 

with health and public warning signs

for their extremist Muslim views

and stigmatised in peoples’ minds

like Swastikas and Stars and Jews.

 

The Mayor Stands ►

Comments

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AM Cash

Thu 23rd Aug 2018 17:54

Love this piece... just brilliant

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Andy N

Wed 22nd Aug 2018 19:14

Great write Andy. I'm glad you listened to the other Andy and put this up. Great choice.

Not a easy read because of the topic but very, very well wrote. Enjoyed (:

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M.C. Newberry

Sun 19th Aug 2018 17:12

Prejudice seeks a reason to exist, so I find it hard to
understand a mindset that would voluntarily alienate its
owner from the society chosen for a new life beyond its
previous existence which one assumes is the free choice
preferred. If I sought to live my life elsewhere, I would
want to integrate and help please my chosen host people
with the compliment I pay them by doing so - and that
is as much visual and behavioural as anything else.
The subjugation aspect of the burka and its indisputable
connection with religious/social indoctrination is a very
topical example - even more concerning when it is used
as a disguise for attacks on those societies it joins and
seeks to become accepted. The apparent inability of its
proponents and wearers to accept and adjust to these
concerns indicates a lack of gratitude and respect that can
only serve to alienate and divide further still.

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keith jeffries

Sun 19th Aug 2018 15:41

Andy,
I found in this poem the futility of prejudice eloquently expressed. The last line of the final stanza says it all. Thank you indeed for this.
Keith

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jennifer Malden

Sun 19th Aug 2018 15:10

Nice, very topical now here in Italy. Of course a burqa doesn't make anyone bad, but it is shocking to us because we perceive it as an unjustifiable limitation of female freedom. Yesterday I saw a young woman in burqa and long black gloves - in August with the temp +30°! Dont' tell me she can have felt comfortable. Also a burqa wearer, whether by choice or obligation, is unlikely to want to integrate into a western world, and her daughters will prob have problems choosing which world to belong to.
Anyway loved the poem.

Jennifer

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