ELLEN THE TALL ONE

Poetic thoughts from Alsafat ‘chop chop’ Square in Saudi Arabia, Dec 2019.
I just so happened to be there basked in the light, thankfully.

The duality of

Light & dark

Joy & pain

Good & evil

Exist in life,

Certainly in our lifetime.

Shadow & light

Brazenly cast right

Before me, courtesy
Of the sun.

Two opposing forces

Duel along stone tiles,

Their contrast a sharp guillotine.

This is “chop chop” square after all.

And it’s after Friday afternoon prayers

When public executions usually befall.

A metal drain frames the centre,

Unscathed by the bloodshed.

Its ready for the next;

I’m awfully transfixed.

I dwell on the dead

Silence, the hollers

Intensity of those scenes.

Beheadings ending lives

Ending time

Of those who have wronged,

Some surely unfairly condemned…

Stained ruthlessness polarised by

Laughter of carefree kids

Kicking a ball

Criss-crossing between

Shadow & light

As if they were moral shape shifters

Impervious from the darkness

All too unnervingly close.