St George in his time and place

Give England its own anthem, demand MPs

The Daily Mail, 23 April 2012

I'm on Rocky Hill, deep in my Kentish past,

distinctly England, the World. How strange

to have arrived at Maidstone West

and not the other station. Progress of a kind,

but in this drizzle the approach resembles

some images of childhood scratched in a slate.

Not a single taxi in sight. So it's collar up,

shoulders hunched, trudge up here to take

the higher ground, regroup, reappraise.

And there stands George on his marble dais,

a seagull perched on the visor of his helmet

(bladder-shaped and streaked with shit),

and Wales subdued at the point of his lance.

Some wit has daubed EDL on his plinth.

And isn't St George to blame for the rage

an Englishman feels when he looks in the back

of his passport? He could have dug a moat.

Or slayed the dragon when he had the chance.

(c) 2012 Slush Poet