(Photo of Berlin Wall from Pixabay)
Tom George is a writer and musician, originally from Sheffield. Since arriving in Liverpool in 1998, he has contributed to the culture of the city as a singer-songwriter, poet, gig promoter, zine-maker and videographer (among other things). Tom says:
“This poem came to me when I was thinking how walls divide people in many conflict zones throughout the world, and how they symbolise the lack of dialogue between the two sides. It is relatively easy to erect psychological walls but much harder to build bridges”
The Other Side of The Wall
There will be no more divisions
No cultural collisions
Or blinkered racial visions
On the other side of the wall
There will be no flagellations
No female mutilations
Or power-hungry nations
With no mercy at all
There won’t be terror forces
Denial of resources
Or distant bearded voices
With stony holy vows
No vicious circle game
Of here we go again
Where history takes the blame
But punishment is now
On the other side of the wall
The strong will heed the call
Of dignity for all
The need to understand
To heal the great divide
That festers deep inside
And cannot be denied
When written on the land
On broken Belfast streets
Where concrete keeps the peace
With reinforced beliefs
That stand twenty feet tall
In east and west Berlin
The long divided kin
Who never did give in
Until they saw it fall
In Gaza on the strip
Where sniper bullets rip
A nation in the grip
Of merciless control
Existing without power
Beneath the look out tower
With murder by the hour
And hospitals in holes
On the other side of this pain
Truth will fall like rain
And pour down onto flame
Extinguishing the grief
On the other side of this rage
The troops will disengage
Like someone turned a page
Restoring our belief
There will be no more excuses
No temporary truces
Or human rights abuses
To dim the inner light
Suspicion will be banned
And martyrs will be slammed
And people will demand
Their safety from the fight
On the other side of the wall
Hearts run free
Horizons of hope
Stretch continuously
The dream of all nations
Believe it we must
On the other side of the wall
The rebirth of trust
© Tom George 2014