Darkening
by Steve Pottinger
for george
under a darkening sky
we sit round a log fire
out there cities are burning
the planet is burning and
i can’t breathe
out there people are dying
in hospitals in care homes
alone in bedsits with the knee
of a cop pressed into their neck and
i can’t breathe
out there pepper spray nightstick
rubber bullet rage
the same wrongs the old injustice
complicity complacency and
i can’t breathe
in the darkness we search
for each other for hope
for the glimmerings of dawn
for words but what words are there
we haven’t used before?
listen   fucking listen
i can’t breathe
i can’t breathe
i can’t breathe
