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​Peace in Our Time by Eve Naden

28/3/2021

0 Comments

 
I
London bears the brunt of the heatwave,
Buildings poured into a melting pot
Of glass and smog, cars gushing in streams of silver
Down the drain while I stand
Sweating in my armour
Cut off from the breeze.
Unlike my colleagues, I am programmable.
Putty with a human face.
Fresh out of Sixth Form, a baby, pock-marked and red,
Stuffed into a cot filled with paperwork and police cars.
Curled in my tiny fist is a baton.
II
The onlookers freeze, rabbits on the grass.
Stand in the shadow of Parliament,
Closing their fists over their phones before ushering
Their children, little girls, and boys with
Snow-white skin, to stay behind them, their eyes
Too transfixed to ask questions.
It occurs to me that I may not have
The answers.
III
In the heat, my hands liquefy,
Reshaping to twin riot shields, which
I press against the crowd. The crowd, most
With dark skin, wearing jeans,
Dishcloths with human faces, their sweat being wrung from
Their skin, all twisted together, arms pinned to their sides.
A stony voice pushes me further against the crowd,
Completing the formation.
All our bodies intertwine, moulding as one.
A single shape - Kettling.
IV
Standard practice. In accordance with the rules,
My body follows suit, my head down, arms pressed in a crucifix across
My chest.
‘Thou shalt not’ scribbled beneath my uniform, a Holy tattoo.
V
Head rising, pulled taut on a string
My eyes catch his, wide and fleeting.
A deer in the forest, its leg caught in wire mesh
Fur bleeding, specks of red on his trousers.
He hovers in the outer rim of the Kettling formation, pressing
116
Up against a shield, a featureless face,
Staring at me.
An old friend. Same school, same neighbourhood,
When my Mum took me to Church,
He turned left, to the Synagogue.
Now another piece of tinned tuna,
Gasping for air.
My mouth opens in a silent overture,
And a chord of shame resounds within me. That
Thought, the truth: we are not altruistic.
I keep my silence, and with it, my job.
VI
A golden afternoon dribbles to a crimson sunset.
The sky is rose quartz, as if the sun has cauterized
The clouds. Still here, all of us
Sweating, wreaking of ammonia and tears.
Slowly, the tunas are released, funnelled back
Into Parliament square.
One by one they go,
Their details now ours.
The flow
Of people disrupted by cameras flashing
From afar.
VII
And somehow, my old friend
Mohammed, who basks around the rim
Of this fish-tank, is kept within our arms
Behind the riot shields, until the
Last dregs of sunlight have drained from the sky.
He is the last to be patted down and
I can do no more than drown
As he meets my eyes with his hollow stare.
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    Issue 6 & 7

    November 2020
    December 2020



    The Stories & Poems

    All
    ​After The Lockdown By Sabdapalan
    A Helping Hand By Christina Westwood
    A Little Hard Work By Carrie Hynds
    ​All Hallows Eve By Jane Bidder
    A Party? By Felicity Edwards
    A Red Breakfast By Graham Crisp
    Autumnal Muse By Yasmin Nabavi
    ​Autumn Equinox By Hilary Taylor
    Bartlett
    Beached By Maisie Bishop
    Bloodrite By Dean Hodsfry
    Bob & Phyllis By Liz Breen
    ​Broken By Allison Xu
    ​Cherie By Paul Warnes
    Christmas Cheers By Elaine Peters
    Cloak Of The Wizard © Steve Lodge
    Come The Morning Stars By Conor O’Sullivan
    ​Cursed By The Sun By Hope Nguyen
    Delight In Every Bite By Nathalie Roos
    DIY By Andrew Ball
    ​Double Trouble By Vivienne Moles
    ​Dusk Hound By Sylvie Edwards
    Eve By Hilary Davies
    Evergreen By Samantha Priestley
    Exuding Chirpiness By Jonathan Hunter
    Faces Of Home By Michelle Weaver
    First Impressions By Jeff Jones
    First Kiss By Andrew Ball
    Footsteps By Savanna Naylor
    Forever Gone By Hilary Taylor
    Gargoyles By Stephen Isle
    Glass By John Morris
    Hologram Futures By Alyson Hilbourne
    Home Remedies By Eva Bell
    ​How I Lost My Lover By Liz O’Shea
    I Don’t Like Cheats By Patsy Collins
    I'll See You When I Get There By Thomas Morgan
    Imaginary Friends By Andrew Ball
    Interconnected By Ena Catlin
    Isodel By Darren Smith
    Kings And Pawns By Dutch Simmons
    ​Letting Go By Carrie Hynds
    Log Me In By Paul Warnes
    Mask Dilemma By Elaine Peters
    Mavis’s Cosy Christmas Cottage By Jonathan Hunter
    ​Misty Mountain Feliz Piez
    Mixed Signals Or Moonbeams By Steve Lodge
    Monster Under The Bed By Patricia Green
    Mrs Stepney's Stepdaughter By Betty Hasler
    Murderous Intent By Jeff Jones
    Nifty-Fifty
    Number 69 By Eve Naden
    One Each By Andrew Ball
    One More Week By Liz Breen
    On The Meeting Of Two Minds By Ronald T Hardwick
    Pas De Deux Redux By Adele Evershed
    ​Peace In Our Time By Eve Naden
    Phil In Real Life By Sam Szanto
    ​Quantum Entanglement By Ingrid Wilson
    Roisin's Party By James Ellson
    ​Rounded Over By M H Pitcher
    Shielding By Graham Crisp
    Something Fishy Going On By Adele Evershed
    Sorry By Elaine Peters
    The Apology By Graham Crisp
    The Avenging Ghost By Eva Bell
    The Best Jest By Shelley Crowley
    The Big Issue By Steve Goodlad
    The Day With The Birds By Liz Breen
    The Dog And The Old Sailor By Ronald Hardwick
    ​The Eye Of The Shrike By Crescentia Morais
    The Full Moon By Dipayan Chakrabarti
    ​The Greater Handful By Stephen Goodlad
    The Grief Eater By Christina MacKinnon
    The Healing Stone By Katie Winkler
    The Hourglass By Madelaine Taylor
    The Last Time By Pat Mudge
    The Making By Madelaine Taylor
    The Mourner By Hilary Taylor
    The Perfect Date By Hilary Taylor
    The Phone Call By Elaine Peters
    The Plan By Hilary Taylor
    The Post-Lockdown Holiday By David A Jones
    The Queen Of The Forest By Renee Gerald
    The Ransom Note By Steve Goodlad
    The Secret To Staying Young By Saul Greenblatt
    The Tap By Beverley Byrne
    The Thing By Taqwa
    The Visit By Graham Crisp
    ​The Wanderer By BC Nwata
    The Wedding Dress By Elizabeth O’Shea
    The Winter Tree By The Somnambulist Society
    Volume Control By Grace Tierney
    ​Washing Up RJ Gardham
    Watching By Natasha Weber
    What's In A Name? By Ian Inglis
    Where Do We Go When We Die? By Matt Allen
    Wilhelmina Turns Eighty By Anita G. Gorman


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Secret Attic - Founded March 2020