sorry indeed

 

I was awakened

by police horses'

hooves chafing

the cobbles

striking sparks

of noise

in protest

to their enclosure

but

this was London

not the level meadows

of Carlow

where I spent my youth

beneath a wide swept sky

 

helicopters

hanging in the air

watching

listening

like the electric fan

in Apocalypse Now

not the dragonflies

that flirted

along the banks

of the goodly Barrow

in my childhood

but like Belfast

when fire engulfed

that blessed city

from end

to end

 

I lie here

on the bed

taunted

by phantasms

as the Pope

drives by

in his bullet proof limo

protecting him

from the non-faithful

as Lenin

was whisked

to Petrograd

 

why am I having

these dark thoughts

on a bright sunny day

blessed by September cool

 

maybe it was

because

the Pope said

sorry

but

sometimes

sorry

just ain't enough

 

blistered blighted

lives destroyed

through the roots

of our faith

never again to flower

in autumn sunshine

from generation

to generation

innocence

trust

lost

 

sorry

indeed

 

 

 





Poetry by Peter Humphreys The PoetBay support member heart!
Read 676 times
star mini Editors' choice
Written on 2010-09-19 at 21:35

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jenks The PoetBay support member heart!
The bible offers many platitudes to be thrown into faces...
So do many other books.
However...
It is not about religion the victims need to hear again...
they need to hear about justice.

Where is the church that is fearless?
And a god in whom we can trust?

As you can see Peter you have woken me up :)
Thanks.
2010-10-06


Brian Oarr
This is far and away the most brilliant poem I've read this year, Peter. I hope you've submitted it somewhere for publication because it needs to be shared widely.

I'll say it again ... effing brilliant!

Brian
2010-09-22


Rob Graber
"Sorry indeed," indeed.

Be that as it may: The clash between real and idyllic imagery is most effective.
2010-09-21


Editorial Team The PoetBay support member heart!
This text has been chosen to be featured on the front page of PoetBay. Thank you for posting it on our poetry web site.
2010-09-20


NicholasG
An ocean away, and the story's the same. Apologies, far to late in coming and spoken in a language far too versed in the term, "legal compromise."
Nick.
2010-09-19