A boundless energy of children
On a neighbour’s trampoline,
Mine’s been long converted
By a furtive military.

Depression in ruins abundant,
The city’s stolen heart,
The only buildings standing
Are the empty mosque and church.

My mind of mulchy-mud detritus,
Thoughts like leaves on a lawn;
A modern meditating Augeas,
I found a magpie’s claw.

The shops are all deserted,
Defying life to go outside,
Explosives left below the surface,
The countryside tripwired.

They said it would be different
But the future’s just the same,
I heard the people singing
As they shovelled earth for graves.

The sun shines on the garden,
Those neighbours are delightful,
But my mind was long since hardened
By something far more frightful.