Music to accompany the poem: Spiegel im Spiegel by Arvo Pärt
A lava of faceless faces
with eyes fixed,
mouths half-open,
ears glued to mobile phones,
pours into a nameless street
in a nameless city.
Shoppers with bags
large and small, square and rectangular,
boasting every brand,
march on
with a smile of triumph
frozen on their lips.
The Christmas hunt is in full swing!
The ‘Salvation Army’ choir
sings songs of annunciation,
trumpeting joy and peace to the world.
In a far away country, in another world,
little Salem
is crouching frozen
beside the debris of his house.
He has just lost his father,
in a war
that should never have been allowed,
in one of many wars
that should never have been.
