Death, Destruction, Vulnerability

I found myself looking into the riots going on in England at the moment. There's part of me that can't help, but feel so helpless about it all. It is scary and perhaps no one has given it much thought yet, but this is London. This is supposedly a place where people respect the rule of law.

Now people can say what they like, originally the riots started because of the shooting of Mark Duggan. And maybe that is how it started, but I feel there is something more disturbing happening here. I like to understand unusual behaviour and yet there is something scarily relatable about this violence and destruction. There is a strange beauty to the burning buildings, glowing in the night. I hate to admit those things, but at the same time  I in no way, condone what is happening for a moment, but is this the result of the frustrations of these youth. Have they nothing better to do than destroy London? To me this is the opposite of suicide. People say that depression is hatred-turned against self and anger is the opposite. Though they are connected, they're basically two ways of responding to the same problem: inner turmoil, disatisfaction with life.


 This is the manifestation of their rage. I wrote this poem trying to understand what was going on inside these people's minds as they tear up London. I came back to the same horrible thoughts, its gone beyond Mark Duggan. They know they can get away with burning the town and they are enjoying this attention and the thrill they get from rebelling against authority. Its a pretty disturbing time when the streets of London are set on fire and the Police seem completely ill-equipped. It makes you think about the artificiality of the law and how fragile it can be.

That's why amid this death and destruction, there is also vulnerability.

Death, Destruction, Vulnerability

Give into darkness brothers
Give into pain
Let's light the light
Let's light the flame

The amber glow in the night
will be our flag
We will show fury that
we shall never feel
it will be written on the sidewalk
and the blood if it comes to that

No more invisible
but burning crimson in the night
and the morning after
Let them see the flames
and our dark scars
Let them see the flames
that they have made inside of us

Use your pain and remember
this is your last chance to live
let our pain be born on our
flags of flame
let no one sleep until
their scars run as deep

so that finally they will see
so that finally they may find the spark
And join us forever cold in the dark


Check out this link for some truly horrific and frightening images of the London Riots.
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/08/london_riots.html