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Oh Auntie Leone

Stephen Chinnock

16 March 2020

You wouldn’t be pleased
That I’m still up
At half past two
Writing again
Mad that I am

Despite all that’s happened
The good reparations
There remains a core
Of difficulty
In the heart
Of us all
Who’ve lost our homes

It won’t go away
In a hurry
Or maybe never
That shock
Of losing it all
In one night of terror

It hangs around
Like a chain around
The neck of your life
Threatening to take you down
At a moments notice

Strive as you might
To be positive and bright
Which I have tried
Late at night
Sometimes it comes back
The black,the danger
The fear of it all

Daily reminders
Without notice
Come memories
Of another piece lost
Of the myriad bits
That made the fabric
Of existence

Sometimes I think
I’ll go mad completely
Lose the plot
Wander off into the distance
And not come back

Then I remember
The group of young Muslim men
Cooking for us
Followed by
The Hindu group
Making curry

Then I have to accept
There’s good in this world
After all that’s happened
Maybe a sense of a broad community
Will hold us together again

Let’s hope
That people will see
We’re all in the same boat
On planet earth
And without
Collective action
We’ll sink !

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