An Elegy For Two Boys Poem by Raman Mundair

[In tribute to Ricky Reel, Stephen Lawrence and their families]

I
Ruptured concrete suburban skin holds
taut the poison that is paved within
feet are sweet against the sting
You're cushioned so(u) l/e up
the cartography of the metropolis
A-Z veins re-route via fingertips clutch
Have travel card will travel.
zones 1-6,
The world is your oyster
but London killed you.

II
It was like any other day
Nothing unusual, just the same:
walking to the bus stop/walking into town...
after a while it's a blur
kingstonelthamkingstonelthamkingstoneltham
just the same, nothing unusual
just the same, nothing unusual.
It was my mate who saw them
he said RUN!
I said no, we haven't done anything wrong.

III
Battery acid tongues siren
their unavoidable existence
internal morsic heartbeat screams; FLIGHT!
trained feet cease up in a fit of dignified pride
thoughts like 'but they're as human as me'
translate into reasoning syntax that escapes like gas
into the dense onyx sky and zeros
into the void between their eyes.
A breath later
You are running like the hunted,
a breath later
You are kissing blood into water,
a breath later
You are kissing blood into concrete.

IV
When it comes it's not like the movies
when it comes it's like a joke.
But you're not laughing, can't believe
that it's really happening, for real you know?
And I didn't see my life flash in front of my eyes
I just heard my mother's voice
'Ricky, Beta... Tu kider gay-a? Mai karh tinu ureekdi hai...',
I just heard my dad's voice
'Stephen, son... Where you go? Me still waiting at the door for you to come home.'