Walk away
Avoid the trap
of vengeance
Of turning on us
when Terrorists massacre kids
We ran away from men who plant bombs,
wield guns – demand absolute power,
They are our enemies too
That is why we are here
If I had not left Syria I would have died
But if I stay in “the jungle” over winter I could die too
in a donated tent
Easy tinder for a tarpaulin Kristallnacht
Bonfires of hatred
We came to Europe to find the land of human rights
Instead we are left here in this camp
Even asylum seekers
If we could get a proper roof over our heads we would stay
There is no solution
here in this hell hole
We must escape from this place
But higher fences and more cops
make it harder to leave
The borders are too strong
Death returns –
a Syrian run over on the motorway
in front of her son
An Afghan boy hit by a train
I join the protests on the roundabout –
“Open the borders!”
My friend lives in hope
he’ll make it to Britain
Has relatives there
Others pray for salvation
I will no longer pray for myself…..
I’ve seen pictures in the newspapers which visitors bring
of dead babies washed up on the shore
I fall on my knees
Prostrate myself and pray for those who never arrived
Tag Archives: Des Mannay
The Blast by Des Mannay
(written on the 10th anniversary of the 7/7 bombings)
If you hadn’t made me late that morning
I would have caught the train on time
But you were just a small child in need of comfort
And I, just a parent who couldn’t resist a hug
So anyway, I caught the later train.
To get to the conference – 5 days of hard politics and soft hearts
And that journey known to all –
Bristol Parkway, Swindon, Didcot, Reading and London Paddington
From there I would travel onto Kings Cross or Euston
It wasn’t until way past Swindon, we knew something was wrong
The first one to crack was the driver
In a garbled message he said he couldn’t go on
Journey would end at the next station
And we heard him sob like a small child over the Tannoy
The news spread along each carriage – there’s something wrong in London
What – a crash? But then a ‘Mexican wave’ of terror
Was spread by mobile phone
We scramble for news second hand from relatives
And piece together a picture of Kings Cross afire
And rumours of bombs elsewhere – everywhere!
And the driver gets bullied by the fat controller
He’ll now drive on to Reading – there’s a fresh driver there
And we can all start making plans.
Someone’s phone goes off – the ringtone is “should I Stay Or Should I Go”
I remember 9/11 – and rush to the toilets for privacy
To record a defiant goodbye message on my wife’s landline
But my voice breaks towards the end, and I wonder
How come the Americans are better at doing this stuff?
Is it because of all the John Wayne movies that they watch?
Sod it – next time I’ll just send a text
And my wife will wonder why Stephen Hawking is pledging her undying love
Finally onto Paddington – conference cancelled today
And I phone people to keep them away
But then my pregnant wife phones and we argue
She wants me to come home but I utter the fatal words,
“But we can’t give in to terror – if I come home they’ve won”
Yeah sure – like they won’t plant bombs coz I’m here.
That’ll scare ’em
Perhaps I’ve watched too many John Wayne movies
Paddington begins to stifle, so I go for a walk
And a bus goes “bang!”, and elsewhere a worried wife has a miscarriage
Blood red dead – and the smell of the blood! mixing with the cordite
Awakening your ‘fight or flight’ mechanism –
Where your head says “run” and your heart says “stay”
And as days go by new rituals are created
Like the lamp post posters of the missing and the dead
Left by relatives seeking closure – they look like posters for missing pets
And the peace and unity vigils
Where we learnt that terror was indiscriminate – it kills all faiths
Just like the bombs on Baghdad – war is terror
I was lucky – I didn’t die….
But I carry the dead with me
They haunt me every night – I see their blackened disfigured faces
Crowding out my mind, and they sound like
Something out of ‘James and the Giant Peach’
When they say, “Where were you – we were waiting for you?”
And the menacing Blood Red Dead drops into my head
And says, “I took your place – so why weren’t you there on time?
This should have been you not me…”
And I can’t take this anymore….
And I just….can’t….take….this….anymore……
And I am the resurrection…..
Form 696 by Des Mannay
I’m rich – but in ways that rich people don’t understand,
when we fight back we have to link hands.
My boss keeps tellin’ me to work harder:
I’m running on empty – no food in the larder.
..
Work is a prison – without release.
Form 696: intimidation – we get no peace
and 666 is the number of the beast,
turn it upside down and you get the police.
..
We’re supposed to mourn Blakelock but forget Blair Peach.
Justice: a concept that’s just out of reach –
look at all the black deaths in cells,
if cops come in behind a mattress, then you get hell
..
The original Black Death was spread by rats,
now they’re in a uniform – and that’s a fact Jack.
Estates across England, Scotland and Wales
now party with Molotov cocktails
..
When you attack our music – you build unity,
treat us all like a suspect community.
This system we live under has failed inspection,
time is ripe….. for insurrection.
..
Why the cops hate Grime
A storm of protest hit last week over the way police are using form 696 to shut down Grime events. Even the Tory Culture Minister, – an oxymoron if ever there was one – has been getting in on the act.
Grime began as a predominantly black music form – rooted in confrontation to stop and search and police raids. It caught on big time with kids dumped on the scrap heap in austerity Britain, and became a multi-cultural underground scene; drawing comparison to the rise of Punk. By 2011 Lethal Bizzle’s Pow! (Forward) was the unofficial soundtrack of the student protests.
While police deny their form targets certain genres of music, the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire Programme found that some forces around the UK were “still asking for the ethnic make-up of the audience attending and the music genre being played at an event”. Leicestershire Police still ask for the ethnic make-up of the audience attending and the music genre. Bedfordshire Police also ask for the music genre on its form, saying that “failure to complete the risk assessment correctly may jeopardise future events by the promoter and the venue”. A Freedom of Information request also found a version of the form has now been adopted by 16 other forces in England.
Grime artists and MCs such as P Money have spoken out to slam the measures as ‘racist’. Giggs had his tour cancelled in 2010 following police advice. P Money said he had been removed from gig line-ups on account of information passed on via the form.
In 2014, after one of his performances was cancelled at short notice, the artist JME said “It’s an attack on people’s civil liberties, but also it’s blatant discrimination.” In 2012 at an event at a mainstream live venue, organisers say that police insisted on searching 18 performers for weapons before they went on stage, as well as a group of young people on work experience organised by a charity.
In 2011, a cultural event organised by London youth arts charity A New Direction aimed at young people, featuring Bhangra drummers and a 14-year-old talent contest winner, was informed the day before the show that extra security would be required or the event could be cancelled. The resulting cost took the event over budget and two police vans were deployed outside the event.
Alan Miller, chairman of the Night Time Industries Association, said the form was “flawed”, adding: “You do not get more crime with young black men than you do with young white men or anyone else.”
Trump-ton by Des Mannay
Will you be
at the book burning?
No more
Maya Angelou, or
beardy wierdy Ginsberg
and Dylan – we’re
coming for you…
We’ll melt CDs
and vinyl too –
no more
Grandmaster Flash.
My daddy was
a real Grandmaster…
of the Klan.
We’ll build
a Siegfried Line
for Mexicans
to hang their
washing on.
No more books!
We have
‘Reality TV’.
Entertainment
for the masses…
It’s just like
the last days
of Rome;
with its Gladiators.
Now that Nero
was a genuine
mother fucker…
No Apologies by Des Mannay
No apologies!
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Operation Protective Edge (2014)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Operation Pillar of Defense (2012)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Operation Returning Echo (2012)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Gaza Strip air raids (2011)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Gaza flotilla raid (2010)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
al-Fakhura School (2009)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Ibrahim al-Maqadna Mosque strike (2009)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Khoza’a (2009)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Operation Hot Winter (2008)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Operation Cast Lead (2008)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Beit Hanoun incident (2008)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
blockade of the Gaza Strip (since 2007)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Operation Autumn Clouds (2006)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
shelling of Beit Hanoun (2006)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Gaza beach explosion (2006)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Operation Summer Rains (2006)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Operation Days of Penitence (2004)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Operation Forward Shield (2004)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Operation Rainbow (2004)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Battle of Jenin (2002)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Operation Defensive Shield (2002)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Muhammad al-Durrah incident (2000)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Operation Grapes of Wrath (1996)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Sabra and Shatila (1982)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Operation Peace for Galilee (1982)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Beirut (1981)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Operation Litani (1978)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Operation Spring of Youth (1973)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114 (1973)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Beirut airport (1968)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Battle of Karameh (1968)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Jerusalem (1967)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
The Six-Day War (1967)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Kafr Qasim massacre (1956)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Suez Crisis (1956)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Qalqilya police station (1956)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Gaza City (1956)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Operation Olive Leaves (1955)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Operation Volcano (1955)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Kuntilla (1955)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Khan Yunis (1955)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Operation Black Arrow (1955)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
The Lavon Affair (1954)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Operation Eye for an Eye (1954)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Operation Lion (1954)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Operation Viper on the Track (1953)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Operation Vengeance and Reprisal (1953)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Qibya massacre (1953)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Tantura (1948)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Ramla and Lydd (1948)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Deir Yassin (1948)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Plan Dalet
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
Khisas (1947)
Israel is a terrorist state
No apologies!
The Nakba
Israel is a terrorist state
Emergency Exit by Des Mannay
Alone
All one
A loan
All gone
Allies
Allay
Always
All lies
All day
Allot
All done
Alive
All run
All lost
End it!
“‘Emergency Exit’ is a poetic suicide note. The sparseness and repetitiveness of the lines echo the illogical/negative linear thought process – up until the end; which breaks the pattern. Which means it can be read in two ways – either the subject ‘ends it’ or breaks the thought process” – Des Mannay
To a Lib-Dem Candidate by Des Mannay
If you knock on the door for my vote
I’ll shake you warmly – by the throat
Your about as child friendly as the late Cyril Smith
With sex scandals and cover ups, ain’t there a whiff?
Mike Hancock, Mark Oaten and Lord Rennard
And Paddy – is keeping your pants on so hard?
Is it bullshit I’m smelling or hypocrisy?
And last time you said you’d scrap tuition fees…
You all live on a yellow submarine
You’ll soon sink without trace – nowhere to be seen
Except the odd enclave where you may hold out
Where voters are gluttons for punishment no doubt
And what’s that daft bird symbol supposed to be?
Looks more like an Albatross than a Phoenix to me
Next time use a Dodo or something else extinct
Then maybe the voters might just see the link
I don’t mean to taunt you – I don’t mean to be mean
But you all live in a yellow glum machine
I met a candidate – seemed like a nice chap
Till I told him I thought that the Lib-Dems were crap
“We’ll still be king makers in Parliament”, he said
What – the place that gained power by chopping off a king’s head?
He said a hung Parliament – that was his hope.
I want a hung Parliament too – done with rope!
Coz that’s not where the power to change things resides
That’s in the streets and the protests outside….
You’re never alone with a loan by Des Mannay
I wish I won the lottery
I haven’t done it yet
It’s the only way I’ve got to be
Free of loans and debt
The electric metre has a key
The TV licence a card
I top the things up gingerly
Coz budgeting is hard
Debts I can’t pay get set aside
Against my bloody home
Can’t pay the mortgage – though I’ve tried
So I’m in the danger zone
The interest keeps growing
On the various debts I owe
And the bastards keep on moaning
I confront bailiffs toe to toe
They charge me for the letters
They keep sending in the post;
Printing money without fetters –
Moving up my debt goalposts
Ran out of cash completely
Got a loan before payday
They dealt with it quite neatly –
But my payday’s turned to ‘mayday’
There’s no longer any slack
To carry out repairs
My home looks like a dosser’s shack
I slip into despair
I find it difficult to sleep
I creep around the house
When the door knocks, or the phone goes ‘bleep!’
I’m quiet as a mouse
I’m supposed to be the breadwinner
Supposed to pay the bills
These are the thoughts that linger
They wear me down – it kills
Should I try to front it out,
Or file for bankruptcy?
I can’t seem to turn this shit around
The bastards ‘own’ a part of me
I’d like to post the fucking key
Back through my own front door
And disappear eternally
And not look back no more
Abuse Of Power by Des Mannay
Why do you carry on as normal?
Respectable life – everything formal
After what you did to me
Recurring nightmares – can’t break free.
What did I do to deserve your attention?
‘Special’ games too sick to mention.
Are you so blind you cannot see
The damage you did – emotionally?
You never once apologized
Now all affection is despised
My body just an empty shell
Going through a private hell
Breaking down the wall of trust
To satisfy a teenage thrust
All your weaknesses restyled
To take advantage of younger child
To sample things you couldn’t get
– In later life I can’t forget.
I learned to hate the way you loved
The iron fist : the velvet glove
The world collapsed in yesterday
I never grew or learnt to play
I hid myself away instead
And wished that I could wake up dead
The tears still flow from an age ago
What I did wrong I still don’t know
I wasn’t ready for sexual pleasure
To be abused at your leisure
Skeletons in cupboards try to hide –
Its me thats bloody crucified
They say that blood is thicker than water
Mine congealed in innocence slaughter
How come you came out on top?
Whilst my self torture doesn’t stop
I cry myself to sleep at night,
And give up on all future fight
Your life goes on without a hitch
My nerves have gone – I stammer and twitch
I withdrew from old nature’s game
And drink a lot to keep myself sane
If I were to ‘copycat’ my abuse,
Would this explanation be much use?
How come I paid for your insecurity
With the money and the fags, you threw as a lure at me?
Incest is a dirty word,
A crime unseen a crime unheard
Give ‘Em Enough Rope by Des Mannay
Out of the mouths of babes
Into the minds of morons
Why should her words of praise
Be taken as a come on
Why can’t she dress just to please herself
Rather than desperate you?
You’re an empty wasted shell
Who should be locked up in a zoo
Why can’t you admire the form
Without trying to fuck the contents?
Don’t think your bravado storm
Will hide your impotence
Why should she lock herself away
Just to save your stupid pride?
Only free to roam at day
Till the pillow where she cried
How come your behaviour is allowed
Whilst she becomes the victim
Let her voice rise and shout aloud
Of the pain you are inflicting
Put yourself in the woman’s place
And turn around and then
Find yourself staring face to face
At yourself in the lion’s den.
Then senile old judge
Will say that she deserves it
With nods and winks and then a nudge
And justice once again perverted
If you think kitchen, child and home
Is woman’s only station
Then you’ll sink just like a stone
And set the stage for your own castration
I am not a silent poet 