Red
by colour, red by nature
(On seeing a picture
of Rebekah Brooks close to one of a red-robed nun looking after a starving child.)
Red is the robe that holds a life
Red is the hair that distracts from the truth
Red is the blood that is too weak to bleed
Red is the headline hewn from tabloid rock
Red is the colour drawn on the map
Red is the Fox who delivers the news
Red are the eyes, burned with sorrow
Red is the Sky, shrouded in mist
Red is the dust, just blowin’ in the wind
Red is the anger that bellows within
Red is the cross that has no frontiers
Red are the faces, blushed with regret
Red is the soil where the bodies are laid
Red are our leaders’ submissive hands
Red are the guns that militias play tunes on
Red are the phones, hacked to death
Red tops think they can take us for fools
Red is the line that cannot be crossed.
Nick
Shrewsbury