CEMETERY ROAD
cemetery road
ultimate
cul-de-
sac
for here
ages of souls
slumber
sleep
sounds of war in the distance
not too
far in
the distance
no one not
in that cemetery
can recall the
days the Nazis
brought their blitz
to Manchester
now under
the flag of St George
fascists of new kind
are fighting their way
into the city
Oxford Road and
all those universities
turned
I fear
into our British Stalingrad
oh, these ghosts,
do they see, sense
any of this
are they disturbed
on which side would
they fight
for which cause
would they fall
imagine themselves
dying once, twice,
thrice
many, many
times
since already dead
and my great war grandfather
what
would he
make of this
thing surely
beyond his comprehension
so
beyond yours
beyond mine
beyond all of
us
comrades, enemies
too divided here, now
to
share this poem
begin to talk
poems 2 die for 