Paul Laughlin
Paul Laughlin was a frequent contributor to Fingerpost in its earlier incarnation. Since then he has published three collections of poetry, most recently 'Conflict Studies, New and Selected Poems' (Lapwing Press).
His work in Irish and English has been widely published in anthologies and literary journals including Cyphers, Fortnight , Glasgow Review of Books, The Stony Thursday Book, Prairie Schooner and The Poets’ Republic. His sequence of Six Derry Poems appeared in the special issue of Field Day Review published to mark the City of Culture year. His poem Virulence appears in the Bread and Roses Anthology 2020.
Change
The change generations
Have bled to secure
Is denied by decisions
Which contrive to ensure
The poor still wait
To see the day when
Privilege and rank
Have withered away
While the pieces are
Moved to no good effect
By players who never
Quite grasp the real game
And things only change
So they can stay the same
Nineteen Twenty
From failed statecraft
Partition practitioners
Craft failed states
A Party Leader Gives Evidence
Accountable
But not responsible
Responsible
But not liable
Liable
But not culpable
Culpable
But not contrite
Contrite
But not quite credible
NO FIT STATE
In this sclerotic state where
Things are seldom looking up
And never moving on
The crowds begin to gather
For the annual parade
The mind-set never changes
The speeches stay the same
Always passing off as culture
Things that cover us in shame
Those that can get out
And live in their own way
Those left behind are in no doubt
That misery moulds their every day
Patients wait on trolleys
For a doctor to arrive
The newly homeless
Sit in doorways amid
The wreckage of their lives
News has yet to reach them
Of all the progress we have made