Somewhere Else The Birds Are Singing

He managed to open the shutters a little way
but the gap was smaller than he expected.
He eased his head and shoulders inside.
The rest of him,
his arse and legs,
remained outside
covered in a blanket
then, as dawn broke,
covered once more
by a blanket of early spring snow.

He was hungry.
He was always hungry.

​Somewhere the birds are singing
he thought
somewhere else
the birds are singing.

Blighted

Once, in Ireland one million died
and we’re still counting.
One million fled
for their lives
and we’re still counting.
Equivalent to the population
of Gaza
before
starvation ruled the land.

​Starvation ruled the land in Ireland
when the potato crop was blighted.
Without potatoes there was no food.
Without potatoes there was no money for food.
Without money for rent colonial landlords evicted,
slave labour of starving men women and children
followed the rule
through occupation
and colonisation.
And no help came.
No Aid came
to help them.

And still
potatoes were exported.
And still
the landlords did well.
All the colonialists did well.
They always do.

So Ireland knows how it feels
in the depth of its turf,
in the depth of its being,
its rock, its stones, its bones
it knows the story
and that change will come
with survival first
one step at a time
and sometimes
words and money
can effect change
as readily as weapons,
that time the past shows
is the time to make a stand
against political manoeuvring
against another respected decision
un-welcomed again by the most powerful.

History shows the time to make a stand.
For Ireland knows
how lives are blighted.

First published in New Verse News, January 2024

War and Hunger

You fight a war
​To be a so-called winner.
But, can you free yourself
From the clutches of demon hunger?
Against the backdrop of
Destruction and rubble.
The ever-crying hungry eyes
Become silent and feeble.
War spares no one
Affecting everyone
Dwellers of the slum
Or the owner of a mansion.
When natural disasters pay a visit
Can you measure its limit?
Why create hunger on our own, then
In the name of just war, when we're to blame
Flexing muscles to show
Superiority that's so obscene!
Stop this thoughtless act and
Fight hunger together for our own good.
Make the earth green and hunger-free
And ensure every stomach gets food.
*****