I – Rain Over the Dying Empire The Weather Forecast looks grim today This mess won’t clear up any time soon So button up your jackets and turn up your collars And mark up your calendars for a time of grey skies There’s a storm on the way We’ll all be blown away The reign will never end Until we’re washed clean off the map But don’t you worry darling viewers Just find yourselves a shelter, you’ll be fine Don’t go scrambling in the smog to find hope: it’s always there It pains me to be the bringer of bad news Oh! Dearest Public I always pride myself in saying Tomorrow will be a brighter day But oh! My friends I also promised I would never lie to you We have serious weather warnings on the way They will ravage your livelihoods but don’t let them take your souls We stand strong against the tide of the oncoming gale, the hail and the thunder If they weather away each tiny bit of all you hold dear Raise your fist to the angry sky and scream for what is right I promise, one day, sunshine will be legal again I’ve tried to make you laugh and I’ve tried to make you cry But it’s difficult when describing the movements of cold air across the land If you ignore the hot stuff blowing out of parliament these days It’s possible to force a smile: a fraction of happiness for hollow promises They know nothing of how to save the world, they just want to escape They’re harvesting the strong so they can find another home Sure, they bejewel their guillotine as it hangs above your throat Because they think that you’re impressionable but my advice is let them think so Because Nature wants out of the pact she made when God abandoned us here And they just want revenge because she’s stronger than they’ll ever be The Mother they used to love, that they cast down, has come to kiss them with her poison passion She won’t ask for their forgiveness as she beats them down, begging for hers I’ll leave you with my darkest secret since you probably won’t see me again As they surround me I want to let you know it’s been incredible Striding through the desert carrying you upon my shoulders And so I’ll thank you and blow a goodnight kiss to you If there’s anyone they’ve left alive They have finally come for me Goodbye
II – The Broken Figurehead Speaks We interrupt this broadcast with a message from the high command Good evening noble people, please ignore what you have just heard And keep on working for our greater good For as we all know, it is better than theirs Regrettably, my tolerance is thin for behaviour like that of our darling Weather Reporter And my mercy is negligible for those who stand against us…
III – Martyrdom for Sunshine** As I stand above the ocean, with the army at my back, looking out at this sunset It feels like the first time I have seen such beauty Though waves gallop into the cliff below there is a malleable peace It penetrates to the deepest corner of my heart As they load their guns and prepare to fire, I think of the others who they have killed And how privileged I am to have the sun as the last thing I see If God will have me I’ll happily join his angels now I look down the crippled rock face to the water, miles below What have I got to lose? I’m going to learn to fly…
Published: 17.05.2012, The Poetry Society, YM: New Work in Poetry, Issue 7