Northern Ireland woke this morning to another tragic event in its history. Today we live in what many would call a normalised society in which we enjoy peace and the benefits it brings to us personally and too are economy, yet twitter this morning is ablaze with the news of a man shot on his way to work on the motorway between Lurgan and Portadown. Here is a poem about what sprang through my mind as the news came in.
Another Gunshot, Another Family.
The news came through as I wiped sleep from my eyes
The morning ritual, barely awake a scroll down twitter
Heart sinking, fear entering, past awakening
Details sketchy, car crash becomes man shot dead as sky news update their status.
Details continue to flood in
7am, Prison service employee, hallmarks of a republican ambush
The news came in as I wiped sleep from my eyes
Thinking of family members left behind
As they wiped sleep from their eyes, sleep giving way to tears and potential sleepless nights
The news came in as I wiped sleep from my eyes
24 years ago a rap came to my mothers door
8.30 she was still wiping sleep from this little boys eyes
The news came in as she wiped sleep from my eyes
Gun shot, train, paramedics on the scene, we did all we could
As she wiped sleep from his eyes, sleep giving way to tears and endless sleepless nights. Just another guy who left for work never to come home
The news came in as I wiped sleep from my eyes
Surely this province can wake from this nightmare
Oh for a day to dawn when we don’t have to look back but stare into the future that comes with a new dawn
