englandthanksgiving poem

I can predict when they’ll be back I told the greenham common campers all of us poised for the cruise missiles to return from war games on salisbury plain thursday is our thanksgiving the americans will want wednesday to get where they’re going for the holiday so they’ll need the morning to deploy therefore they’ll return tuesday night I was right midnight some fifty police lorries four abreast on the narrow road led the parade headlights blinding then the dark missiles huge terrible long as tall buildings laid on their sides grim bobbies standing shoulder to shoulder to keep the women from flinging paint we flung anyway though not me if you are jailed you’ll lose your passport they said but I got paint on my green down jacket plus rips from the gorse bush that a bobby pitched me into my kids say get rid of that old rag but I wear it every winter it is my battle stripes

© Jacqueline Jackson 2008