Who Cares by Kevin Jackson

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We put them in care

and they were had

not once, not twice

Countless times for

countless years

while we did our shopping,

painted walls, fooled about with careers.

..

And now the inquiries grind

and the paperwork groans

and insurance companies menace

and politicians moan

And the police investigate

the investigations of more police

And no one, not a single someone

who must have known

stands up and says

“I am truly sorry”

..

These were children

children in care

Children, not zombies in videogames

..

children with names and dreams

who needed our help, not a looping nightmare

..

Ah but children’s memories

make such unreliable witnesses

If only they’d kept journals

with dates and times and DNA

Then the learned judges

might have heeded what they

shook to the bone to say

..

And will those barristers who

so meticulously, so expensively

turned black to grey

answer for it

one thunderous day?

..

Yet somehow the survivors cling

to what solid air they can find

while claims, cover ups

cock ups, excuses

rattle in the wind

..

And none of it

none of it

none of it

changes a single fact

..

Won’t dry a tear

heal one wound

bring one suicide back

None of it

..

The truth is

for those frozen in pain and shame

there’s not going to be a happy ever after

And we care, we care –

who wins X factor?

..

Kevin Jackson has been writing poetry “that dares to care” for over fifteen years, with a steady record of publication online, in journals and anthologies in the US and Europe.   His most recent publication being in the upcoming Poems 4 People anthology in solidarity with refugees.  Kevin also has a presence in poetry performance and competitions and was a finalist in the UK’s Canterbury Poet of the Year Award 2010.  Whilst grateful for publication he is more focused on the opportunity to engage with people in person and online to share poems, open minds, encourage creativity, viewing poetry as activism.  He blogs at  https://kevnjacksn.wordpress.com Kevin moved to the East Midlands in 2013 and has recently discovered the pleasures of a campervan.

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