ravens will shun withered branches, flock to the boardrooms
observe the final act in the farce of the human
zoom in, watch as we fall to the sea
caw at one another as the city drops
to its knees
and the ocean
like a swollen womb
grown heavy with the miscarriage of our days
will bleed
how did this happen?
the people will utter
weeping in the gutter
as the hospitals
bolted and shuttered
close their doors
to all with poor credit scores
underfed, nauseous, following orders
the patriots will sing Rule, Britannia
between mouthfuls of garbled salt water
we need stronger borders
they will say
as the tide rolls in
washes them away
closed eyed to the omens
listening to the moneymen
the earth lies reeling
democracy: a shallow dream
ignore what you’ve broken
forget what was stolen
for this City to rise
and poison the sky
close your eyes
ignore it
tell yourself
there is nothing to see
because they never thought it would come to their town
carried on, kept their heads bowed from the sky
they when it ripped like a wounded animal
there was no denying
thick black liquid-like ink
rolled in fast
in the blink of an eye
the sky blackened like a dead laptop screen
matched the furious water’s rage
destroyed whole towns as it came
gushing from the shore
and still the politicians
played their war-games
the people didn’t care until it was their kids, their home
washed clean from the earth in the last of the landslides
carried off in the mouth of an unkind tide
a foreigner now in some distant place
where the people don’t seem so nice
just fodder for a cheap headline
no time for refugees
they will say
the boat gets spun round
you’re pushed away
sharks in the water
wolves at the door
turning your gaze
from a full-force
gale and the rising tides
fast –
avert your eyes
these are the end times
nothing left
but magpie eyed men
with corporate sponsors
scouring the earth for the last coin
the one patch of unclaimed soil
to re-develop
and sell on again
frack bleed
oil oil
Syria weeping in drone-struck rubble
capitalist terrorism
frack, privatise
burn burn baby
develop
colonise
strong and stable
the latest jingle rings like a tired download
strong and stable
weak and unconvincing
Britain just a clod
apart from the continent
sinking