People of the Sydney siege - a poem

          I wrote this the day the siege ended (16.12.14), before I really knew about the Pakistani massacre, which was by far a  more horrific event, but which in no way diminishes the horror of the Sydney siege. All of the politics and bullshit aside, there is the human element which should never be overlooked.

(On a personal note, my daughter's mother was only a few blocks away and was in lockdown at her work. It was quite worrying, especially in the early hours when nobody knew what was taking place.)

Poem for the people of the Sydney siege

I

A bright Monday morning

Like many others

Aside from the expectant hum

Of a looming Christmas

And the purpose laden crowds.

When a spectre emerges

A court jester escapee

Driven and deranged

Seizes the day

Blocking out the sun.             

The night draws its cloak around us

Closing off options

Shutting out the world

Narrowing all hope

To this.

The only place left on earth

The last place

To wish to be.

When familiar adored faces

Beam elsewhere

Awaiting

The brush of fingers – a trail

The soothing, all-encompassing joy

Of a mere hug

A paradise lost

And all that has ever mattered…

Will it come again?
A forgotten land

A discarded map

History rewritten

To encapsulate the new theme

The alternate slant of light

With a permanent stain

The dark brutality strikes

To alter the spectrum

For us all

With the fallen

Left in its wake.

II

I’ll wait for you alone

By a tree

A river

A front door

I’ll meet you there

In that place

Far from here

In tomorrow

Or yesterday

A time alternate

It matters not

Envelop me

And I’ll commit a lifetime.

Rest In Peace

Thoughts with the victims and their families and all those held hostage that day.