Poetry

Grenfell Tower a Tragedy

free verse poetry in honour of those who died and survived

Three years have gone by.
Three years no justice.
Three years a fire service blamed.

Poorly equipped through government cuts,
Orders given against their own rules,
The sacrifice made for children trapped, as exhausted
Firefighters operate now without their equipment.

Blamed by politicians and newspaper owners
An inquiry going straight for the
Fire service jugular rather than looking
At why this had happened.

Wealthy owners get off scot-free
As do politicians who signed off
Cheap cladding on high tower blocks,
Sitting on safety recommendations made
Eight years earlier which could have saved
Seventy-two precious lives.

Lack of support from an emotionless prime mister
Refusing to meet families and quickly find them new homes,
Struggling on pitiful sums of money, the undoing of her career.

Insensitive elitist classes gave no
Thought to those seen way beneath them.
Tower owners with vacant houses
Refusing survivors a home,
In turn, neighbours voicing their disdain
Of unwanted victims near them,
Callously seeing families split apart.

Evidence withheld from survivors and families
Through a crooked court system,
Favouring the wealthy and political pockets.
This ineffectual process in time
Will play into their greedy bloody hands
Seeing responsibility brushed aside
Along with the ash grit and bones.

Those who died and those who survived
Will not see their justice, as the government,
The Elite and the wealthy will do what they always do best.

Bloody Sunday, Hillsborough, and now… Grenfell.

In honour of those who died in these tragic avoidable circumstances,
and in honour of those fighting for justice.

Thank you Meg for giving my words a platform here at Resistance Poetry.
Thank you all for reading and your precious time. J.