Blue, Green, Red and Purple: RED SHOES
Your banner is nailed to the cross of your own making...
Betty Collins directs a question at the famous whose pictures confront us every day.
Ave presidents, preachers, prime Ministers, popes, town councillors, mayors, senators, and all:.
I see you, I greet you,
you bloom and blossom on my TV screen and newspaper: and on the covers of magazines
flattened against the newstand by dead bands of wire:
There you are, smiling, your eyes
always looking to the right or to the left
as you have been instructed:
Never straight at the camera.
Oh no;
Your banner is nailed to the cross of your own making,
And nothing can let you off the hook now.
Not like the rest of us, who can change our minds according to the strength
And direction of the prevailing winds
You intended to bear the sword of Arthur,
Maybe find the Holy Graille,
save the People.
You put on the Red Shoes.
now have you seen sharp fingers rake the grey air:
war, refugees, capitalists, recession, poverty, drought, children, cruelty, hunger, crime, starvation
YOU
You
You
Don’t you wonder why you ever put on the red shoes?
