Ceasefire Now!
Vies with The Word of ancient scriptures.
Brass bands deliver doleful praise
to children of the Bleak Midwinter
lining both sides of the street, in tatters,
swaddled, frost deep, in limp blue quilt.
Loose change lands
In cups and cans, from guilt
or proffered hands
that can least afford it.
Still the throng edges forward
Ceasefire Now!
Rips through strains of
Away in a manger.
Bile rises at the words and base association.
Genocidal annihilation
From the River to the Sea.
Nativity Obscenity
Away in a manger
Away, away for ever.
