Covid care

Eighty-five years old,
she sits in the care home
and she’s not been hugged
for eight months,
for her protection;

not had her hands held
by her son or daughter
whose hands she held
for their protection
when crossing a road,

trudging to school over frozen snow
or just strolling in the summer park;
whom she hugged tight to herself
through the childhood tumbles and bruises,
the frights and fears, the nightmares.

Imprisoned now for her own protection
by the rules and regulations,
she descends further into dementia,
as the carers care for her, protect her;
but she has not been hugged

for eight months,
sees her son and daughter through a screen,
not held their hands
for how long now!
How long?

© Dave Urwin

BBC Radio 4: World at One

Dave has published two collections of poetry, Towards Humanity (2015) and Plain Song from the Backstreets of Silence (2020). Lots of his poems can be found at www.jadedmountain.wordpress.com

Voices inside the madhouse

They send people here who have no future.

Heroin addiction. Depression. PTSD.

Some patients are picked up from the streets.

Others are brought here by their families.

Many have no families. They fled the country.

This is a place for people who are a threat to society.

They need love and attention on a daily basis.

You can find yourself inside these walls.

Outside the walls you can’t find yourself.

I dreamt you took me away from here.

The volunteer counsellor suffers from PTSD.

His teenage brother was killed in a gun attack.

It was just across the road from his shop.

He is one of the lucky ones. He has a family.

They send people here who have no future.

We used to watch the executions in the stadium.

The stadium was always full. Once a week

we would say, ‘Let’s go down to the stadium.’

People climbed trees for a good view.

It was normal.

They shot a woman in the head for adultery.

Once they brought a thief and chopped off his hand.

They threw it in the air. It kept moving

after it fell. In the dust. Like this.

I can’t get the image out of my head.

Hundreds of executions. I was seventeen or eighteen.

It was normal. We feel safe here.

I dreamt you took me away from here.

Drug-induced schizophrenia. Depression. PTSD.

They send people here who have no future.

© David Urwin

Our World - The Trauma of War

Dave Urwin lives in west Wales and performs his poetry live regularly. 'Towards Humanity' was published in 2015 (Pinewood Press, Swansea). He also publishes on his blog, jadedmountain.wordpress.com

Yet another thorough review

(in memoriam Bijan Ebrahimi, Iranian refugee murdered in 2013)

Yet another report concludes

that a man is guilty

until he is proved innocent

especially if he does not have white skin

but they are extremely sorry yet again

and will carry out

yet another thorough review.

Yet another report concludes

that the police ignore complaints

from a man who is disabled and an immigrant

but they are extremely sorry yet again

and will carry out

yet another thorough review.

Yet another report concludes

that a man can be kicked into unconsciousness

battered into lifelessness

dragged out of his home on to the street

have fuel poured into his face

over his clothes and set on fire

and that this is quite normal

but the culprits have been detained

and they are extremely sorry yet again

and will carry out

yet another thorough review.

Yet another report concludes

that hatred is the barbed wire

lodged in and around the human brain

anger and resentment the electric charge

that surges through it

disrespect the stinking stain

but they’re extremely sorry yet again

and will carry out

yet another thorough review.

Yet another report concludes

that we’re extremely sorry for our failings

yet again

and will carry out

yet another thorough review

but owing to circumstances beyond our control

some changes cannot be made.

© Dave Urwin

Bristol refugee murder review accuses police of institutional racism

Dave Urwin lives in west Wales and performs his poetry live regularly. 'Towards Humanity' was published in 2015 (Pinewood Press, Swansea). He also publishes on his blog, jadedmountain.wordpress.com.