Laura Cook shares poetry and artwork inspired from her experience of the ‘Kill the Bill’ protests.

k

Get your hands off my sister

fluorescent yellow fever,

pus,

leaking

from the wound 

of a burnt-out van.

at 10pm,

the sound of batons on bodies

as helicopters

hover like vultures,

eager to pick at the flesh.

fluorescent yellow

‘nice guys’ 

make way for

riot shields, dogs, dread,

and mayhem.

dazed, 

by searing lights and screams,

horses,

with no choice,

obey orders and charge.

sirens pierce the night air

as people start to run,

for fear of the infection

intent on poisoning us.

the wound

and its maggots,

swell through our streets. 

who, or what

do you claim to protect?

Artwork by Laura Cook.