On June 2nd 2010 a gunman tore the heart out of the West Cumbrian community, killing 12 people and injuring 11 others. I heard of the tragedy minutes after the second shooting. I was on holiday in Italy and due to modern technology knew of the unfolding events even before many people in the local community. These poems were written at that time and on my return.
June 2nd
Oh death where is your dignity
Where is your care?
Cruel friend prowling the today,
Striking we know not where!
Heart’s death ended,
Carried over the airwaves,
Webbed into our consciousness,
Transformed into the unmissable-
Unimaginable stark truth which forever stays.
Yet, in
Pompeii’s bare streets swept of death,
Burnt by today’s not yesterday’s sun
Where sounds the laughter?
Where cries the love song?
Where rises the fun?
So yesterday’s today haunts the never-now
And existence runs random at play
With life’s flow ebbing
Life’s flow trickling away.
Embrace life, answer the call!
Live life to the full!
Express existence with abandon
Then ride high on day-schemes
Mocking the eternal plan.
Oh death where is your dignity
Where is your care?
Cruel friend prowling the today
Striking we know not where.
June 2010
Our Land Lies Bleeding
Our land lies bleeding
Washed by tears.
From the heights of our fell land
To the sands on the shores
Breathes the weariness of tired hearts
Drawing life from the mind,
Drawing life to a heartfelt emptiness.
‘It all stopped.
We held our breaths,
We wondered,
Would we breathe again?’
Desolate winds of sadness
Pluck memories from the depths
Recalling brighter days;
Eyes bright with smiles.
Why try? Why bother?
Why raise the effort?
O desolate hearts!
Stress and distress; tired,
Tired..., tired....
But we will go on
Like the rhythms of the Solway tides,
Living for a tomorrow
With more eye for today.
WhitehavenFestival
Community, community,
Gathering together in community.
Reaching in, reaching in,
Reaching in for security.
26 June 2010
