The Peace Wall – Each side of its Face
The wall
Stretches, far as the eye can see
marks of attacks and
victories mar its unyielding face
it’s a Breakers yard
burnt out cars rammed against its painted facade
bottles, planks and even human discharge
women and men determined to gain
victory over each other’s space
on each sides of its divided face
The wall
Sometimes demoralised
like the places in the town it surveys:
fire ravaged gaping workplaces
boarded up shops
the slow procession of daily hearse
wishing it had never been built
to referee contested space
The wall
its conception – happy and grand
each layer of brick laid and formed.
in its humble abode
buffets the torrent of history told
mere stone
it would do what it could
to stop the hate
proud to lift its head and smile
at the Black Mountain high
It has stood for hundreds of years:
Seen battles rage and ebb
gave witness to its buried dead
some not yet found
The wall
remembered its commencement
the shouted command built high
a temporary divide
to save lives
on each side
It has stood the test of time
a mirror painted with the signs of hate crime
celebrated in colourful praise and rhyme
The wall
Good Friday Agreement
the scratch of a pen ceased the shame:
war-weary, broken down, defaced
tired of holding the peace line place
its job complete or so it seemed.
The wall
Thinking of promises made
Century 21
Ushered in with platitudes
And fanfare promises
Guns no more – emperors wear new clothes.
Decommissioning Behold.
New Troubles for Old Troubles
New rhymes marking time
Identity a running sore
the loudest shouts on the Hill
wins the battle old still
The wall
cracks on its face bleed orange and green.
still Art, they call it now.
War utilised.
Tourists pay to see
where our neighbour’s child was killed.
The wal
crumbles a little more behind its facade
as holder of the peace line
it’s an uneasy peace
showing a different face
on each side of the peace wall place
still, the daily hearses have ceased
maybe the wall hasn’t failed after all
Gemma Hill © 2014
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