Helmets In The Distance

 

Police helmets
tiny in the distance
side by side
futile in resistance
closing in
to full magnification
my body got pulled
to a store , a safe haven .

I was just a child
aged about nine
shopping with my mother
in a long ago time
petrol bombs
and screaming voices
smashed along
angry but rejoicing .

The sounds so loud
rioting through Manchester
sit profound
in my mind always remembering
multiple pounds
on the metal shutter coverings
smashing glass sounds
raining down
as I was huddling .

A city on fire
smoulders through my memory
one big funeral pyre
flaming high
in times that used to be .