Two crowds of demonstrators
facing off across double lines
of harassed, interfacing riot police
each crowd spouting the bias
of whichever media feed dogs
have been pushing their buttons
there is much darning (and worse)
as the police struggle to keep
them hemmed in whilst a journo
darts in and tries to buttonhole
some talking heads for the news
needles his victims to say something
outrageous but the crowd gathers
round and rips into the man with
the microphone, who wishes he
was home this Saturday afternoon
taking a nap instead of mining
this admittedly rich seam of
newsworthy division – newsworthy
though hardly novel – politicians
of both sides have been dog-whistling
immigration to whip up votes
for decades – a pattern that no amount
of careful work with a seam picker
– will undo and ease the tensions…
© Andrew Wilson, 2025
Over at dVerse Poets Pub, lillian in Poetics, invites us to use a list of words from the world of sewing, albeit with a different meanings…
A good use of the words and metaphor, Andrew.
Maybe it’s different there, but here, I don’t believe the two sides are the same. I belive in opposing fascism and the White Supremacists.
No it’s the same here, Merril, and I agree that it is important to oppose fascism but I also think that there is a refusal to understand the position of those drawn to the far-right which can lead to a failure to engage constructively and therefore effect change – the left huddles in a bubble as much as the right…
It is hard to find any common ground when all is confrontation… and someone stands in the middle.
That’s true, Björn, my grandson is a policeman but fortunately he has not yet been riot trained so doesn’t attend demonstrations…
A timely post….for the US for sure. And you’ve used the terms so very well. I especially like the last three lines. Such horiffic news over the weekend: shooting at Brown University, mass shooting at a Jewish gathering in Australia, the brutal killing of actor and amazing director Rob Reiner and his wife by their son who has long struggled with addiction and mental health issues. Somehow we must remember all the good there is…..while objecting to the bad. “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.”
Terrible news indeed, Lillian – I can’t help feeling that many governments and many Jews in the diaspora, are regretting the decision to accept the Israel edict that criticism of Israel constitutes antisemitism – those countries and all Jews have been co-opted into being supporters of genocide and are, rightly or wrongly, drawing down a very public reaction…