Love In a Time of Riots

I met you outside a ransacked footlocker Your fingers touched mine, entwined As we pushed a Tesco’s trolley Through the window Shards of broken glass fell upon your shoulders And into your hoodie Like glistening amethysts Flecked in their reflected hearts With the blood orange glint Of burning shops and perfect hatred I bent down And offered you A single perfect red trainer Its lace a thorned stem We were alone on the planet in that moment Our faces obscure behind football scarves But our sated purpose eloquently screamed from our eyes – destruction obtuse and divine If I had never known a love Or known what a life with love can be I knew it then as we were dragged away together by our hair And smashed By special constables And smashed Our landscape is empty, and we share it bitterly But the strength of the convictions you gift us Has led us to this demonstration of how powerfully And how singularly We love each other And detest You