Just as I have been reading Ivor Gurney telling of a hundred years before, ‘…the gun stammer; thud, smack, belch of war,’ of frightened men with guns shouting out their pain; telly news has a fat man revelling in war, in the taking of sides. Footage shows round-eyed children in basements, women saying they’re scared of what’s next. What’s next? How many more times will the news show buildings broken by war and safe men saying this was deserved? Back to the fat man who makes a gruff comment and gives the one in faux uniform a comradely pat on the padded shoulder.
Sam Smith