Density of forensics
by Philip Berry
Shadow cuts the boy in two
cannot feel his own dissection
opens aching blood locked lids
concrete bleached morning sky
early contrail the angled stitch
melded fingers pulled apart
system’s guts are darker blue
turns to face the litter-scape
baton spray in three dimensions
diesel smoke on shattered shield
juvie tags piss gutter and fear
jackdaws strip out faded bags
sweated deals pressed hand to hand
sirens swelling Doppler thin.
Footnote: A boy has been caught up in social unrest. Bloodied, concussed, he wakes to a new day among the detritus of violence beneath an overpass. He may be black, he may be white, he may be innocent, he may be in the life. All he sees is injury. The poet was not there, and can only paint in colours from the palette of his own bias.
Philip is based in the London and is a hospital doctor. His poems have appeared in Lucent Dreaming, Poetry Birmingham, Black Bough, Lunate Fiction and SUNY Upstate’s Medical University’s The Healing Muse. He also writes a regular blog on medical ethics called Illusions of Autonomy. His writing work can be explored at www.philberrycreative.wordpress.com or @philaberry.
