POETRY CORNER (by Martin H.)
LIKE A PACK OF WOLVES
Three AM.
I can hear the rapid rat-tat-tat-tat!
Talking in Spanish
Sarcasm,jokes, teasing, bullying,
Threats of violence
And then the dreaded,
“Thump, thump, thump”
When I hear my neighbour – a handsome, youngish, asylem seeker immigrant from Pakistan
(Living in the bottle)
Making muffled sounds of submission,
I sit up to investigate:
Four Spanish policemen, Guardia Civil; Franco´s henchmen.
Standing next to me like a pack of wolves
Cornering their prey.
My neighbour
(Also homeless)
Lying in the foetal position, facing the wall, breathing heavily.
This police brutality
Has rendered him
Speechless.
Ali´s silence is most unusual.
He comes into our cardboard-city usually
Effing and blinding, angry at something or someone
Usually drunk.
Now this
Deafening silence.
All I do is stare at this crime scene.
One policeman sees me looking,
Reminds me – with one practiced jesture using the middle finger –
To wear the mascarilla properly; over and ABOVE the nostrils.
I do as I am told, carry on staring.
Like the big bad cat
That has had its fun,
The four policeman stride off into the night
Looking for the next mouse to play with
Like the untouchables they are –
Oblivious to the harm caused,
Out on the prowl …
