IN HEAT AGAIN
“Do not rejoice in his defeat, you men.
For though the world has stood up and stopped the bastard,
Source; Referring to Arturo Ui (representing Adolf Hitler),
in The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (1941)
I wrote this short poem (Birstall, below) on the day of Jo Cox's murder. Bob Geldof had also been in the news by taunting hard-working fishermen over their anti-Europe stance. Perhaps the multi-millionaire aging one-time vague pop star ought to be made to spend three weeks at sea trying to fish under EEC fishing regulations rather than cruising along the Thames with his yahoo bubbly-quaffing companions. Yet my stand on FaceBook over certain aspects of the Leave campaign's tactics saw me lambasted with hate; even a balanced, compassionate article in the Guardian I'd posted by Polly Toynbee was interpreted by the nouveau FaceBook fascists as 'stoking hatred' against Britain. They could see no connection between Geldof and Jo Cox's execution. So what this whole referendum thing has achieved is safety for the dark underbelly of xenophobia and flag-waving, gun-boat jingoism to finally slither from under history's heavy rock. Perhaps, unfairly tenuous though this suggestion is, they now have a dark champion in Tommy Mair. He encapsulated the leaver's national sense of hate and frustration. I was hoping for the 'debate' (a misnomer if ever there was one) to guide me as to whether I should vote in or out. I have made my decision now. I will abstain. All I will say is this: in 1981 as a pupil at Dulwich College, Nigel Farage was well-known for his fascist sympathies. So in the months or years to come, as the new right wing parties of Austria, Germany and France unite, as the toxic ant-compassionate views of not only Gove, Farage and Boris Johnson, but Cameron and his cronies gain traction, when the jackboots are being polished and our civil liberties reined in, at least my conscience will be clear - I didn't vote for it all.
BIRSTALL 14.6.16
I saw a picture of the killer
A man in camouflage fatigues
He was thin and sallow,
Bland, inconsequential
Banal, vanilla-flavoured.
Yet behind the barrier of his eyes
The horror: a vicious pettiness
Hid itself away.
Yet for one day he let it out.
In him I saw the combination
Of computer propaganda
CGI warrior, terminator,
Predator, storm trooper, imaginary soldier,
Illusory avenger, star of
This month’s new releases,
With their Panzers, Uzzis, AK47s,
Medieval swordsman, Samurai,
The Ninja, all Hell’s heroes
Behind a reclusive killer’s eyes.
And all around his loathsome life
His steady hate encouraged
By fires of fury stacked and stoked
By the silver lizard tongues
In suits and ties, men far removed
From the killer’s prosaic being
As they wave their manifestos
Smile in secret, forget their education,
Protected by their privilege and wealth
They dismiss their toxic, lone assassin
Yet whilst feeding on our fears
Like crocodiles, shed tears.
