the yellow and green of the ambulance
used to be all white
with just one single blue light
on the top of it
the boys used to swedge a little in the parks
fisticuffs and a boot in the guts
nay saying that’s right
but at least they used to go to bed of a night
and were just about able
to rise up again next day
drink R Whites
and pull on a pair of Fila’s
the bobbies uniforms
used to be a slightly lighter
shade of blue
but they never used to wear
the armour
the Magnum side-zipped Panther boots
the steel extendable baton
the breast camera and pepper spray
the stab vests and Batman belts
the blue and white cordoning off tape
used to be yellow and black
and when you saw it
it was like this great thing had happened
that drew you in like a magnet
but now
when you see the blue and white tape
being hung around our children’s necks
again
and again
and again
you just swerve it
cross to the other side of the road
avoiding it like an annoying neighbour
so your heart doesn’t have to drop
and splinter
a little bit more
things change
progress deems it so
a plastic society fed plastic dreams
gets dislocated
and dislocated
……..dislocated
until it hangs like a useless leg
that no one can feel
or wants to be a part of
until a girl can’t even sit in a park
without fear of getting stabbed
until lives
keep disappearing
up into the air like smoke
and you can’t stop asking yourself
who can put these vicious fires out
now
where once there was grass?