On the Special Meeting of the Manchester City Council (Wed. 12th of July, 2017) to reflect on the terrible events that took place at the Manchester Arena on the 22nd of May

 

Amendments and agendas put aside
to mark the memory of those who died;
the damaged lives of that emergency;
a lot alive but still in tragedy;
and some who’ll never shift their injury;
and loved ones locked in pained expectancy;
and those who implemented protocol;
and those who carried out the protocol;
the hard worked plan of mass fatalities;
the worked-up plan for mass of casualties;
the transport and the food and beds for nights;
the turning wheels, the closing eyes, the lights;
the logging of the details, lives and times;
one homemade bomb, more than a thousand crimes;
ordinary people and extraordinary care;
the mass of feeling, piled in St Ann’s Square,
of those hit where they did not want to be
and heaped with grief that none should ever see.

 

Damian Robin is a poet living in England.

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6 Responses

    • Damian Robin

      Thank you Mr Ruleman. The Meeting was very well organised and executed with great dignity.

      Reply
  2. Damian Robin

    Here is a reply by email from the Lord Mayor of Manchester.

    Dear Damian Robin

    Thank you for your kind words, and I have read your fine poem.

    The solidarity of so many good people like you means a great deal to the people of Manchester.

    Yours sincerely

    Eddy Newman
    —
    Councillor Eddy Newman
    Lord Mayor of Manchester

    Reply
  3. Damian Robin

    From the Deputy Lord Mayor of Manchester.

    Hi Damian

    Thank you for your taking the time to write to me. I hope you don’t mind, that I have shared your email with my fellow Councillors so that they too may read your very moving poem.

    Warm regards

    June

    Reply
  4. Damian Robin

    From Councillor Bernard Priest, Deputy Leader

    Thank you Damian, for your kind words and for your poem. Both are important to me.
    Bernard

    Reply
  5. Damian Robin

    These and other councillors replies show how important it is to communicate our sense of oneness and benevolence. To stand out and show it, bearing forth our sense of humanity. And to tell our truth — in this case, the truth of compassion. These attitudes may not seem practical but are appreciated and help in ways not always visible.

    Reply

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