THE KNEE

(for Colin Kaepernick)

He took the knee, knelt down,

A gesture personal and reflective,

While for the anthem those round him stood,

He was genuflective.

 

Knelt not in respect nor in submission,

But in defiance – you stand I kneel,

Ashamed, not proud of the nation,

Where brothers wear the baton’s weal.

 

The gesture, silent, spoke in volumes,

About acts of state brutality,

Shouted out that black lives matter,

Demanded racial equality.

 

As the words rang out - home of the brave.

Proclaiming to all - land of the free,

Colin Kaepernick begged to differ,

He made a stand; he took the knee.

 

 

[Poem - 21 June 2023]

WATCH OUT

 Psst! Do you wanna buy a watch?

I turned to the man stood at my elbow. His attire was sharp, but the style was dated. He drew up his jacket sleeve to reveal a bare arm striped with watchstraps bearing garish timepieces. This one, he said, pointing, tells the time in fifteen cities worldwide; and this, indicating another, has the phases of the moon.

I showed no interest and tried to turn away, but he bared his other arm and thrust a plain looking wristwatch in front of me. This one, he said, is special. It shows how long you have left until you die!

I could not help but glance at it. The watch face seemed wrong, there was no hour hand, or minute hand, just a second-hand winding backwards to zero.

That’s nonsense, I said, it only has seconds.

So do you, he said, producing a ten-inch blade.

 

[A one-hundred-and-fifty-word story - 13 June 2024]

SUMMONED TO COURT

Summoned to court, he wore a suit and tie rather than his scrapman’s overalls. Charged with stealing the park railings, he soon realised his hopes for acquittal were fading. After consultation with his brief, he changed his plea to guilty and asked for another fence to be taken into consideration.

[A fifty-word story - 6 June 2024]