{"id":2375,"date":"2022-07-01T14:55:11","date_gmt":"2022-07-01T13:55:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shaunbelcher.com\/writing\/?p=2375"},"modified":"2023-11-12T11:34:39","modified_gmt":"2023-11-12T11:34:39","slug":"collateral","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shaunbelcher.com\/writing\/?p=2375","title":{"rendered":"My Back Pages: Collateral"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"426\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/shaunbelcher.com\/writing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/collateral.jpg?resize=640%2C426&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2376\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/shaunbelcher.com\/writing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/collateral.jpg?w=640&amp;ssl=1 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/shaunbelcher.com\/writing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/collateral.jpg?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>COLLATERAL<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">(for D.D.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Windows shake, tyres screech<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Litter blows across the estate<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gunshots ricochet as sound<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Divis Flats, Brixton Market<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Beirut, Jerusalem, Sarajevo<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A baby cries, a baby cries<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The broadcast stops, the helicopter hovers<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There\u2019s a smell of cordite, a cold wind<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A face you have seen before on the news<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Starting to dissolve in a pall of smoke<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gravestones, a line of mourners, a hearse<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More tracking shots, more candles to light<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The post-war peace has been noisy<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All night the rain streaking the vans<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As another round up begins<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Difference is a slogan, tolerance fades<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hope drifts downstream like radium<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Whitewashing concrete stained with blood<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We can carry on, we can care even more<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The trains will run, the tide will turn<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The supremacists will make everything alright<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The same arguments start again and again<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tube trains fill with dust and smoke<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Collateral damage drips through the door<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You choose what to believe, what to see<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As another herd of innocents die in a cellar<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The missing migrant is pushed into the sea<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sixty years of peace in Europe a lie<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From the Balkans to Ukraine this is total war<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An iron curtain swinging in the breeze<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the morning a cold silent light<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A white horse streaked with blood and lame<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dragging itself to a poisoned stream<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The crusaders horse is then shot full of holes<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Its body carried away on a torrent of pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Collateral: The ghost in the Western dream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>COLLATERAL (for D.D.) Windows shake, tyres screech Litter blows across the estate Gunshots ricochet as sound The Divis Flats, Brixton Market Beirut, Jerusalem, Sarajevo A baby cries, a baby cries The broadcast stops, the helicopter hovers There\u2019s a smell of cordite, a cold wind A face you have seen before on the news Starting to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":true},"categories":[100,33,59],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-my-back-pages","category-poetry","category-politics"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6nhh-Cj","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shaunbelcher.com\/writing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shaunbelcher.com\/writing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shaunbelcher.com\/writing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shaunbelcher.com\/writing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shaunbelcher.com\/writing\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2375"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/shaunbelcher.com\/writing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2375\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2766,"href":"https:\/\/shaunbelcher.com\/writing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2375\/revisions\/2766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shaunbelcher.com\/writing\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shaunbelcher.com\/writing\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shaunbelcher.com\/writing\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}