Tom Savage
People born elsewhere
Think the city they’ve moved to
Holds more freedom for them.
Liberty is relative, apparently
And the further away from yours
Or ours the better.
This turns out to be not always the case
But the base assumptions often prove true.
People who need to be led
Inevitably lose.
In any armed conflict
A large number of people
Caught in the fire
Die anonymously.
Unite the front
And hope the back follows suit
With or without a suit
To cover itself
Or convert itself
Into the language of peace.
If you miss your day
Do you lose your turn?
Playing around in the street
Pulls in more than merely polluted air
Unless ingested
In whatever way
Is possible or impossible.
Bought or born,
Fashion is often
Counterintuitive.
The wisdom of health
Contradicts martyrdom
Regardless of the cause.
Where the wealth resides
In imagination
Seems to be where it stays.
Rain falls on all mourners alike
Whether church doors open or close.
Written while watching The Freedom of the City by Brian Friel.
