Black Country poet Brendan Hawthorne has agreed to write a weekly poem here on The Stirrer which we hope you'll enjoy.

Brendan hosts regular meetings for aspiring versifiers at Wednesbury Library (check out www.poetrywednesbury.co.uk/)

Here's his first contribution - a reaction to the latest "terror alert".

Paper Planes

Once more

intention

has turned

airlines

into headlines

by-lines

and social panic

raising the cost

of freedom far

beyond the bounds

of decency

The unseen hand

and doorway face

are given global

media attention and

send shock waves

of fear through

innocent eyes

and vulnerability

is held hostage

by outrage as

animated

ticker-tape words

agree on resolve

and recognise

the fact that

the storm

is brewing

no matter what

with security

so critical

that even

baby milk

is a

primed suspect

in mass murder

conspiracies

terrorised lives

and liberty

are lined up

and scrutinised

actively scanned

and observed

seen through

see-through

carrier bags

whilst x-ray

intelligence

protects

the fragility of life

and paper planes

from falling

in the rain

******************

©2006 Brendan Hawthorne

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