moses

Smite the dust of the land with thine rod which was a serpent

And the poverty tourists shall dribble and drool over that land

Where flies shall tease scabs and boils and eyelashes

And bellies of brown alabaster anguish under hot sun.

They shall take photographs and video footage.

H-a-r-r-o-w-i-n-g they shall drawl.

Smite the dust of the land with thine rod which was a serpent

And terrorists,  which are children shall scour that land

And more bombs shall explode and shatter brown lives

And white bodies shall scatter and guileless women shall

Complain as much about the litter on the village green.

A-p-p-a-l-l-i-n-g they shall drawl.

Smite the dust of the land with thine rod which was a serpent

And the earth shall quake and the seas shall rise up and swallow that land.

And meagre trappings shall be tossed as careless as lives

And homes shall be splintered along with the hopes of the poor.

And a silence shall fall broken only by the crunching of popcorn

H-e-a-r-t-b-r-e-a-k-i-n-g they shall drawl.

Smite the dust of the land with thine rod which was a serpent

And disease shall enter souls and anger shall creep across that land.

And beatings and shootings and the attitudes of youths

Shall be squashed between frail fingers and remain there

Like dead flies, as those fingers shall point, in sanctimonious terror

A-t-r-o-c-i-o-u-s they shall drawl.

Smite the dust of the land with thine rod which was a serpent

And the skins of brides shall buckle and fray and shed across that land

and mothers shall revere duty above their daughters’ bodies.

And fathers shall put aside the thrill and feel the mock of lust

And stand upright as citizens in awkward pride

B-a-r-b-a-r-o-u-s they shall drawl.

Smite the dust of the land with thine rod which was a serpent

And wretched pain shall scorch those blighted plains and cities

And stroboscopic suffering shall rattle its mark across the world

And misery and despair shall be burnt into the depths of men

who clutch at straws and panic just a little.

U-n-b-e-a-r-a-b-l-e they shall whisper.