Ballad of Steve and Melissa

Shared here. Another detention : http://britcits.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/another-detention-original-piece-on.html

We got married in Gibraltar and Melissa became my wife,
But returning to the UK caused one hell of a strife,
For the powers that be detained her, no they would not let her in,
It seems that being an American is now some kind of sin,
If you happen to fall in love with a British green-bearded guy,
Especially if you are suspected of being a Chinese spy.

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.

The Heart Secretary - by Wes White, who was at yesterday's demonstration

http://whysweetlie.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/the-heart-secretary-teresa-may.html

On the wall of the Heart Office there is an embroidery
in patriotic colours, faded since 1905
to pink, cream and baby blue. It reads,
‘I SHOW ME HERE THE EARTH IS.’
It’s a famous phrase, but broken up;
letters apart that should be together,
together that should be apart.

Poem: Yarl's Wood (by Clare Pollard)

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-5b8d-Clare-Pollard-Yarls-Wood

Clare writes :

'Yarl’s Wood. It even sounds nasty, doesn’t it? Like it’s a creepy fairytale, where Yarl is a wizard with a gnarled heart and mean fingers. Anyway, I started reading around. I read about the campaign against it started by Meltem Avcil, who was taken there with her mother when she was only 13.  She describes a place where women can’t get changed because they’re watched 24-hours by male guards; a place of roll-calls, barbed wire and barely opening windows. I read of indefinite detentions; inadequate medical care; 71p a day spending money and a culture of abuse that has led to staff being sacked for sexual assault.  I read of pointless deaths and senseless deportations.'

'These are women who have come to us, asking for hospitality and mercy. Women who have been victims of violence or rape or prejudice; who often fled their home-countries in fear of their lives. And the more I read about Yarl’s Wood, the more it seemed like a horrible spoof – a mocking enactment of their fears of abuse and injustice. A parody of their hopes for security and a new home.'

http://clarepollard.wordpress.com/2014/05/02/on-yarls-wood/

Russian icon of the Flight into Egypt

Love on Skype; Hatred and Hype

You talk of life when you can show our love is strong
You talk of life when you can show them they were wrong
Beneath the sun, across the turquoise sea
You sit in darkened room, your hand stretched out towards me
You hear my voice, you see my face but can’t touch me
While men of power preach hatred, terror, fear
Of godly people, immigrants and queers
You search the net, the world, your heart to make them see
Wonderin’ how the fuck to keep on living without me

I talk of life when I can show our love is strong
I talk of life when I can show them they were wrong
Across the mountains beneath a sky of icy blue
I sit in darkened room, my hand stretched out towards you
I hear your voice, I see your face but can’t touch you
While so-called ‘friends’ preach mistrust, rumours, fear
The crap-filled media fairy tales they hear
I search the net, the world, to change their point of view
Wonderin’ how the fuck to keep on living without you

We live across a border, lines on maps
Bureaucracy;  ‘the fortress’ sets our traps
Shored up by dollars, power wars and hate
Love becomes a checklist they can rate;
Meanwhile they say that love can conquer all
Well maybe that was true ‘til someone made the call
That we must bow before the war on terror
And turn our backs on love; their fatal error.

- Ally Mountain  2013


Thanks to https://twitter.com/donflynnmrn for sharing this with us.