The Square

Standing there

In the downtown square

I can’t recognize the place

I’ve lived for so long.

The square is crowded

but my friends aren’t here.

Hope has gone away.

Joy no longer visits.

Peace is in exile.

Up on the platform, escorted and bound,

Love stands defiant before the crowd –

The noose pulled tight

The trap door falls

The crowd erupts in cheers and shouts

Fear and loathing are all about.

Love turns blue and

Is promptly pronounced.

As the body is taken away,

Pelted with eggs and rotten fruit,

A chanting crowd.

Standing there

In the downtown square

A stranger in a strange land.