Marmaris-Aleppo Poem by Sheena Blackhall

Marmaris, an all inclusive package
A western Shangri-La
Friendly staff, nothing is too much trouble
Cheap, clean, rooms, mirrors & marble gleaming

The pool is blue as sapphires
The families relax, all's cuddles and smiles
Children's plump bodies, tan in the smiling sun
Wives pamper bodies, massage, luxury
A bubble of laughter, leisure and free laundry
Bare flesh under yellow parasols gleam bronze
The clink of ice. Skin wrinkles in the water
Glinting under fair, unclouded skies

Unlimited food, dishes of olives, nuts
Tourists coming and going like birds
Pecking at dainties, in the pursuit of pleasure
A steady stream of drinks soft/alcoholic
Cigars, sweets, cigarettes all cut price here

The dentist said ‘So many Scots come here!
How you must love your sweets!
I crown their teeth, you Scottish men and ladies
They go home with the Marmaris Hollywood smile.'
Shows us pictures of ‘before' and ‘after'
Rotten teeth perked up to look like pearls

Aleppo in Syria's a no-go zone
Of breadlines, fuel queues, fear and devastation
No electricity or running water
The public parks have all been stripped of trees,
For wood to cook the little food there is

Buildings are rubble, normality is history
Hotels, mosques, government hubs, are twisted wires
Whole suburbs wiped from the earth by falling bombs
Threadbare healthcare, children traumatised

Bullet holes puncture street signs leading nowhere
In the wreckage, in the honeycomb of holes,
Life, of a sort goes on
Here, stagnant water fills a hungry belly