There is still so much barbed wire surrounding the air between us,

gnarled and sharpened, it is only seen

when observed up close, through the flawed magnifying qualities

that a camera can capture on full zoom, or perhaps laid across

a piece of clear glass and seen through one eye, half closed, straining to scrutinise

the differences in opinion that has ensnared us, dangerously

and without feeling any empathy.

 

The barbed wire, svelt snake like, worm thin, scorpion sting,

is laid across mile upon mile of the territory marking out no man’s,

no woman’s, no child’s land, no space at all as the tension is built upon

the tension caused by misunderstanding and all that is left,

all that remains is the barbed wire searing across our hands and face

as we try in vain to tear it down. The snake, the half cut worm

and the scorpion, so many stings, defend the territory to the final cut.

 

The camera, able to show where the joins are met,

are methodically deleted of their sharpness, turned blurred by use

and finally wiped clean, for what better in the end that your own

high resolution, stereo sound, complete with embellished popcorn

version of events in which you are the star,

hero and risen again champion of the cast list

and the person on the other side of the scorpion sting is only fit for

the cutting room floor.

 

The zoom lens focuses with intent and with clarity to prove the script right,

the stunted umms and ahhs that bind the wire together, the small piece

of vital information that was misleadingly left out

of the final cut, Director’s Cut only available as the all the rest of the

staff mysteriously missing, packaged and sold

as the authorative text and if in doubt the Scorpion

can always house one more dissenting victim that the worm digests.

 

The wire that surrounds the Concentration, the wire that surrounds

the athletic horse, too noble to even concern with the flood

of electricity coursing through the worm’s veins, the wire

that stops trespass, the wire that keeps the connection

from being made and the severity of the scorpion sting enabled,

is nothing, nothing to the effect that you have placed the barbed monstrosity

around myself worth whilst I was allowed the humility of rest.

 

Ian D. Hall 2015.