Monday 1 June 2020

POEM: While Justice Waits










While Justice Waits


there they go again
filling your mouth
with their name

there they go again
adding more weight
to your burden

there they go again
giving you all the anxiety
whilst telling you not to panic
when the panic is rooted in 
centuries of ... there they go again

there they go again
contradicting their own rules
double speak and double standards

there they go again
your dead are statistics 
your ghosts live in hashtags

there they go again
getting away with murder
but calling it anything else

there they go again
doing nothing 
as your vulnerable and
sick and dying
need all your love and care
and your living need all of your
focus, energy and time

there they go again
filling your plate
with their jobs
and the work
they should do
as your elected leaders

there they go again,
dominating your thoughts
so no work can get done

there they go again
grimacing on the front page
hogging the limelight
with this theatre of
performative cruelty

there they go again
suffocating light and hope
like a pillow held fast over the face
of the kicking and struggling truth

there they go again
consuming all the oxygen
and rewriting history

there they go again
like it's all about them
but it is because of them
and it is in spite of them

there they go again
obscuring the facts
blurring the edges
blinkering the horse
filtering the picture

there they go again
there they go again
there they go again

and it is not the names of the dead
nor the name of the nurse
not the name of the innocent
but their name in your mouth

how can it be?
that when you wake in the night
wailing and mourning and hurting
they are marching on your tongue
they are renting your insomnia

there they go again
using your anguish as garnish
using your defence as an attack
using your fear to divide you
using your rage to pass draconian laws
using your pain to sell shit back to you
using your grief to decorate newspapers
using your anger to kill you

because there they go again
casting an ass in the lead role
the wealthy politicians in the spotlight
the hideous clown gets top billing
the monster as the headline act

your horror gets a walk on part
your mourning cries are extras
your fury is the chorus line
your humanity the supporting cast

while justice waits in the wings




(c) Salena Godden / London / June 1st 2020 (first draft, work in progress)













  • 1. Donate to Black Lives Matter: You can find the main donation page here
  • 2. Find out more, BLMThe full list is here
  • 3. Donate to a bail fund:  Thread here
  • 4. Support the National Police Accountability Project:. More info here
  • 5. Support Campaign Zero, a police reform group that has been working on policy solutions “informed by data and human rights principles.” More info here
  • 6. Sign a petition: Civil rights group Color of Change launched a petition asking that all the officers involved in Floyd’s death are brought to justice. Find it here
  • 7. Or another petition: The “Justice for George Floyd” petition on Change.org already has 8.5 million supporters. Find it here

  • 8. Help the family of George Floyd HERE

  • 9. Fight for Breonna Taylor HERE

  • 10. Help the family of Ahmaud Arbery HERE

  • 11. Help the family of Belly Mujinga HERE

  • 12. Funding for writers and poets list:  https://www.spreadtheword.org.uk 

  • 13. Are you a frontline health worker who needs #PPE? frontline.live is a community of volunteers working to get healthcare workers PPE  

  • 14. Refugee Community Kitchen serving food at home and abroad: Bit.ly/RCKdonate

  • 15. There is a rise in domestic abuse in lockdown. Help and support: bit.ly/3dVNIUJ 

  • 16. Petition for Financial package for funeral of #CoronavirusPandemic deaths. Stop Family anxiety and debt: chng.it/bNyB4k7s7N

  • 17. The Big Issue Foundation: bigissue.org.uk

  • 18. Find your nearest foodbank, help or donate: https://www.trusselltrust.org

  • 19. Issues with landlords: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk

  • 20. Comprehensive list to help BLM: HERE

  • 21. 3 years after Grenfell: Fundraiser by UK Cladding Group HERE

  • 22. Marcus Rashford: Coronavirus response: Get food to vulnerable people HERE












  • I will be sharing some new lockdown work at these online events this month, 

    I miss your faces so much, please stay safe, stay smart, stay strong, sgxx


    JUNE 2020






























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