Be back for dinner

 

Out the door for school
The buttons on your
Rough blue duffle coat
Tightly thread through
Each twisted rope
Like glistening black bullets
They bound your body tightly
Hurry along, don’t be late.

 

Brown shoes scuff and clop on the pavement,
Your leather satchel drums
A heartbeat into your side
The streets are trenches
Houses framed by coils of thorns
Rusted metal gates check your worth
Piercing your peace
Push through the cage, don’t be late.

 

Towering walls stand for peace
Scarred with hatred
They eat into the landscape
Blocking out the sun
Choose a side and stick to it
Choose a flag and
Fly your shroud
A blood-stained hand
Symbolises victory
Out of reach.

 

The school gates clang shut,
Stone corridors echo rumours and paranoia
Who’s your dad?
Watch your back
Tackles on the playground
Loaded feet trigger easy targets
Keep your head down
The bell shrills
Swallow your stomach
Home time, don’t be late.

 

Gripping the coins in your pocket
The corner shop offers a welcome door
The air thick with ink and tobacco
An exchange is made
Followed by a soft flutter of excitement
As you leave
With a stuffed paper bag in your hand
You make your way down the road
Boiled sweets click and soothe
Try not to eat too many
Dinner time soon, don’t be late.

A nearby car starts
You turn your head
For the last time
One moment passes
And in the next
A pool of bodies hit the ground
Glass sugars the pavements
Alarms shatter the calm
Fires lick the air
Smoke signals another day in distress.

Your blue duffle coat
Now soaked with blood
Your lifeless limbs lay weak to the war
Shoelaces tied
Ready to run
To a troubled home
Where gripped forks
And sunken faces glance over
A full plate
And an empty chair.