03 March 2020

for Lasantha


do you know what a bomb
does to a body?

an embalmer tells me
they do what they can
with the parts they get
but sometimes
it just isn’t enough

I’ve been carrying your body
around for far too long
parts of you are
falling into dinner 

conversations, drying up
the laughter
when they remember 
how they have forgotten 

other presses are state-of-the-art
the men at their helm fearless
for they rarely speak truth to power
or challenge the might of the State

your press has fallen silent
and soon your legacy 
will be silenced too 
even as your life’s work
is slowly being erased

not all presses test their strength 
against State machinery 
not all papers push up
against the State’s perversions 
not all people are prepared
to be pulverised

were you?

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