the sky we thought we knew
The sky we thought we knew erupts above
Like some crazy mirror raining down fragments around our ears,
Tumbling over and over in the dying light,
Showing us glimpses of our reflections as its pieces turn end over end.
We crouch shocked and staring at the burnished face of judge, jury and executioner looming overhead,
And tremble at the thunderclap of the gavel
As he declares us guilty of such heinous crimes:
Female; poor; person of colour; educated; freethinker; liberal.
We are sentenced for these unforgiveable sins
And the bailiffs drag us away under the watch of those narrowed and suspicious eyes,
While he stands atop the wall idly grasping shotgun in one fist and manhood in the other.
In these tiny fallen specks of shattered world we see our faces pale and fearful,
Pressed roughly against the bricks as the shirts are stripped from our backs.
We lie crushed and crying in the dirt,
Our pleas unheard as large white hands laughingly loosen ties and push back sleeves.
They wield the whip with savage carelessness,
Then slap each other on the back
And clamber over the last corpses of our naivety,
While the final tears run from the corners of our dead eyes,
Staring blankly up at the remnants of the sky we thought we knew.
© mjc 9 November 2016
