The Great Betrayal

(with a special dedication to Cornwall Council)

You come, you say, where it is your right 

to stay in defence of your heritage.

You come with your children, your dogs, 

your tools, your, white, gleaming vans.

You come with all the trappings of your trade, 

your pick-up trucks, your cars and your money.

All night in my bedroom, your generator hums; 

a sleeping giant grumbles in my ear.

You come on Good Friday as the sky wears

its shroud and the telephone lines fall silent.

On the hillside lies the gleaming stone,

rolled away too lightly and too soon;

there is no hope here, though, only sprawl and spill 

and the clamour and clash of modernity.

You come, you say, in defence of your heritage

yet you batter at the gates of my peace.

© Abigail Wyatt

New powers to tackle illegal travellers' sites

Abigail Wyatt lives in the shadow of Carn Brea near Redruth in Cornwall. She is in real danger of financial disaster due to a series of planning decisions taken by Cornwall Council. The most recent of these was to evict a group of travellers from the car park of Carn Brea Leisure Centre and invite them to take up residence in a field just a stone's throw from her home. Abigail hoped to sell her house this summer. Now a sale appears most unlikely.

Moral Dilemma

Today is market day.
Women have come down
from their remote villages
to their nearest town.
They greet one another
among the busy stalls
but pay scant attention
to the vendors’ calls.
They talk about their lovers
and extol their virility
yet point out the dangers
that go with promiscuity.
The opinion is prevalent
we ought to warn all maids
not to indulge in shenanigans
in case they catch Aids.
It would be so much better
if they could get protection
but they are subjected
to religious objection.
Clerics of different creeds
raise their hands in horror
and declare we shall live
in Sodom or Gomorrah.
So prudence is requested
and also self-control
but, given human nature,
it won’t work at all.

© Luigi Pagano

Religious leaders want ‘Weka Condom Mpangoni’ advert withdrawn

Luigi Pagano is a contributor to Poetry24 and other websites. He has published three poetry collections the latest of which is Poetry On Tap.