November, Paris Blue
- Written after the Paris attacks, November 2015
It
is a blue November dawn
I
imagine a day without conflict
It
looks like a globe of light
With
an absence of shadow
A
world filled with wonder and colour and joy
I
close my eyes to soar and fly above the cities we grieve.
I
don't trust any politicians anymore
I
don't believe in our Prime Minister
Or
any of our world leaders, presidents and kings
It
stinks the way they continue to lie and conspire
To
make money, to trade arms, enslave and murder people.
One
bomb does not a country kill
But
the missile aims to kill the faith in peace and love
One
attack will not burn all the flags and castles
But
intends to incinerate hope and burn bridges
And
fuel the media propaganda trading in fear
Giving
the war-mongers ammunition to wage war
Avenge
the revenge, that was revenge for the revenge...
And
an eye for an eye and the whole world goes blind.
We
are nothing without each other
We
are our reflections and our differences
We
are ants on a hot blue marble in space
We
have one planet and one chance to be good to each other
Or
be smashed and scattered as ash and dust.
Today,
France is dropping bombs on Syria
Who
knows what retaliation tomorrow brings
Who
knows which city gets bombed next?
We
can presume the politician holding the receipts for the latest arms
deal will know.
But
we all know that more bombs means... more bombs
More
revenge, more retaliation, more casualties, more death
More
refugees, more displacement, more ignorance, more intolerance, more
tension
More
blood in the gutters and broken bodies tangled in concrete, rubble
and glass
More
refugees suffocating in abandoned lorries and washed up on beaches
More
rape and violence to vulnerable women and children
More
shock-stained faces staring down the news camera lens pleading
"Why?
Why do you treat us like animals?"
More
mouths; bloody mouths, screaming mouths, hungry mouths, angry mouths,
lying mouths, Politicians
mouths like piranha mouths with razor teeth to bite any truth in
half.
Stop
people killing people for killing people who are killing people...
Media,
click bait, hot takes, turn us inside out
Guts
spilled and wrung like chip paper laundry
We
are being spun in a washing machine on a negative cycle
I
want to stop the spin
Switch
the machine off and press restart
We
need soap to wash out these lying mouths
We
soak our world in salt water to remove blood stains
But
all our tears are never enough.
We
slap and split the lip of the present
Bloody
our shared history
And
leave scars on the future
A
black eye for a black eye.
We
must be the change we want to see
I
won't give up, I won't stop being idealistic
Idealistically
we must break the chain:
Stop
people killing people for killing people who are killing people...
Stop
people killing people for killing people who are killing people...
Stop
using death as the whole sentence
When
talking was not listening
When
listening wasn't hearing.
It is a blue November dawn
I
imagine a day without conflict
It
looks like a globe of light
With
an absence of shadow
A
world filled with wonder and colour and joy
I
close my eyes to soar and fly above the cities we grieve
I feel
the sorrow of the ghosts of all the lost
And
the hearts of the souls beating
The
universal rhythm of a new day
Fresh
coffee, umbrellas and pigeons
And
Paris, wine and poetry and
Beirut
and music and Syria and spirit and
London
and spice and tea and books and
As this blue November dawn breaks
I
remember that is who we all are
That
there is a breath inside us we share
Together
we live through this moment in time
This
brand new morning
With
one long slow exhale.
(c)
Salena Godden / November 2015
‘November, Paris Blue’ is a new audio poem by Salena Godden
Available on both Mixcloud and Soundcloud
Available on both Mixcloud and Soundcloud
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