Love In a Time of Riots
I met you outside a ransacked footlocker
Your fingers touched mine, entwined
As we pushed a Tesco’s trolley
Through the window
Shards of broken glass fell upon your shoulders
And into your hoodie
Like glistening amethysts
Flecked in their reflected hearts
With the blood orange glint
Of burning shops and perfect hatred
I bent down
And offered you
A single perfect red trainer
Its lace a thorned stem
We were alone on the planet in that moment
Our faces obscure behind football scarves
But our sated purpose eloquently screamed from our eyes – destruction obtuse and divine
If I had never known a love
Or known what a life with love can be
I knew it then as we were dragged away together by our hair
And smashed
By special constables
And smashed
Our landscape is empty, and we share it bitterly
But the strength of the convictions you gift us
Has led us to this demonstration of how powerfully
And how singularly
We love each other
And detest
You
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