The Prorogation of Parliament

That day when the wedding guests exploded;

That day when I let a wee girl ricochet

From and towards her mother’s spew of blame;

That day I didn’t shelter

A railway worker from a racist shower …

Some close at hand, some far.

Kabul or Coleraine station, the same acid rain.

That day in Coleraine station when I witnessed

The airiness its architect enticed inside;

A guard whose smile kept all our doors ajar

And, in town, a window of bottles,

Wittily displayed — such light-filled things.

These close at hand. In far

Kabul or Coleraine station, the same inherent shine?

Today, when democracy exploded,

I was tread-milling for an email thrill

When I caught the acrid taste of tipping-point.

In the rank mulch of small misdeeds

The great ones grow. Wake up, wake up, my soul.

Some close at hand, some far.

Kabul, Coleraine, the Commons, I must reach those I can.