Green and Pleasant Land

by Peter Devonald

Beauty is now just shattered glass glistening,
reflecting blood drenched red moons sighing,
smashed dreams of a once happy and pleasant land,
drenched by falling waterfalls of blood, a memory.

The fear, the fear, grows fuming dragon wings,
terror spreads with every angry vicious word,
vileness echoes with another violent scream,
all decency corrupted for another’s dream,

They believe they are moral crusaders,
fighting to save their country from 'invasion',
as they smash up the library of their own misgivings,
as they throw petrol bombs at the police and scream.

They believe they embody freedoms our grandfather’s fought for,
patriots fighting with courage of their own convictions,
but our grandfather’s fought against the crimes they commit,
to fight fascism, stop racial hatred and halt hate crimes.

They believe they are the truth sayers,
protecting women and girls from 'sexual predators',
as they terrorise women and girls, attack houses and mosques,
predators to truth and justice, liars so often lied to.

They believe this is the British way,
to smash up hotels and threaten innocents,
as they break into shoe shops and steal what's inside,
smash up cars, stamp on drivers and set the country on fire.

“Enough is enough, we need our country back.”
What happened to our beautiful green and pleasant land?
To let this nasty abhorrent poison and disillusioned violence in,
to allow this anger and depravity, it breaks my heart.

How did we become this poison and cruelty? Angry violent hearts
twisted by divisive rhetoric in vile algorithm echo chambers?
Hatred and intolerance grows and spreads with insidious intent,
like knotweed exploits existing cracks and gaps in structure.

We wonder where the hate comes from, where the poison begins?
A nasty magic trick of misdirection, to blame the innocents,
as billionaires live billionaire lives, follow the money to this disgrace,
instigators reward for sin, bloody hands marked with the state we’re in.

Hate speech leads to hate actions, hate actions lead to violence,
grief cycles increase with destruction and misery, poison spreads
and grows unchecked. This sickness, this toxic sickness,
this sadness, this terrible sadness, this dreadful sorrow.

Algorithms Of Rage

by Peter Devonald

We drink a nice cup of tea as the world burns,
Custard Creams and cake as it slides into anarchy,
lit by an art deco lamp that remembers past riots,
rivers of blood again, our disgusting history repeats.

Stiff upper lip as we post on social media about another age,
as the nation splits, attacks and burns itself into a vile rage,
riots reign down fear, fire and blood with vile belligerence,
another summer of disconnect fuelled by ignorance.

Thugs smash windows, loot shops and cause disgrace,
violence, vandalism and hooliganism as they hide their face,
cars burn as innocents dragged from cars because of race,
police and mosques attacked, what difference is birthplace?

How can we still be so divided, foolish and uninformed,
so obvious that in all our DNA all of us all refugees,
we are all Romans Anglo-Saxons and Normans in heritage,
we are all Huguenots, Africans and Caribbeans by parentage.

How can we be so blind even now to only see the shade
of another’s skin? How can we be so unaware even now
to think any group is responsible for our suffering?
We are forever one nation, one people, one hope.

Flames rise higher from Liverpool to London, Bristol to Belfast,
Sunderland to Southport, Hull to hell, Manchester to mayhem,
We are so much better than this, trust me, we are a country for all,
to flourish not be alienated, to be lifted not denigrated.

We want our country back too, back from the far right,
back from racists, xenophobes and algorithms of revulsion,
back from the EDL, Reform and newspapers spreading hate,
back from this violence that blames all the innocent people.

We watch the fires burn bright and still do nothing,
another cup of tea and social media post as the flames burn
higher, higher, hatred creates hatred, rage creates rage,
the poison is not just out there, it’s in us.