Business Meeting

October 2023

by Edward Mackinnon

The blood-red carpet's been rolled out again
for the salesman with formidable arms
and a mouth like the barrel of a gun
who knows only too well the source of all terror
in the depths of his atrophied heart

His government will wait a hundred years
before getting to the bottom of the latest blast
but it's losing patience with two million outcasts
who aren't fleeing fast enough from the white fire
of his demanding clients, the chosen ones

He exudes omnipotence, has aircraft carriers
on standby and other powerful weapons, informers
giving reassurance to the doubtful world

but nevertheless he can't help worrying
whether he's striking the right pose, not suffering
collateral damage to his unimpeachable name

and whether there might be a chink in his armour
through which could pass the winning light
of the bereaved fighters for unflinching truth

To those who seek nemesis in my name

by Janet Sillett

you do not do this in my name
you do not use my name
you do not speak for me

my anger is mine
not yours
you do not use my name
to light up the dying sky with sulphurous stars
to bleed the ocean
to bury the past in shards

you do not cancel air and water in my name

you do not use my name
to dispossess the words of poets

spit your lies into someone else’s mouth