This is something that I wrote in my WednesdayWorkshop with Emilie Collyer. The probe was to write a poem as if it was a newspaper article or vice versa, not to think too much, and to go with the first idea.
I was really struck with something I had read in the paper that morning (and when it had happened) and a kerfuffle at the Sunshine Magistrates Court the day before with loads of media there (not really sure that this is what they were there for, however it did make me think of this family).
Family rallies around torn shreds of child
Mauled by dog
Now held on rod
Community now ripped apart
Good dog and bad
The owners are barking out loud
Foam frothing at mouth
Reports flow in from o' abroad
The barking gets louder
With teeth all bared
Men in suits murmur
And shake their heads
Conflicting thoughts, O', what to do
A family now with one less to hold
Stands closely with their dark skin
Fled had they from war torn lands
To be free from suffering
And Warlord Kings
A bark now frightens them more than they could 'er know
Good dog, bad dog
Who will know.
