INTERGENERATIONAL SOLIDARITY

INTERGENERATIONAL SOLIDARITY

A Friday in the sunshine, Central London busy and at its best.

The sympathies of the middle aged and elderly put to the test.

Down the road they come, helicopter circling, walking police escort.

Chanting, carrying placards, fired up, a battle that needs to be fought.

Gathering strength as they go like a hurricane does over water.

To some an inconvenience they would bat away with a swatter.

It's good that they have forgotten just for a moment laptops and phones.

Shame on the septuagenarian who, on seeing them, points and moans.

I emerge from Banqueting House wishing I had the time to join them.

Instead I watch and applaud whilst all around me ignore or condemn.

But even that falls short. If we don't engage with them little will change.

They will be theatre rather than prophecy, their fire should not seem strange

to those of my generation who lived through rebellion, protest,

who rejected parental values and made sure our views were expressed.

Now it's species extinction, air pollution, clean water's scarcity.

The way forward is intergenerational solidarity.

I wrote this poem in September 2019 whilst on a sight seeing trip to London. It was the height of the school protests when kids stayed out of school to march about the environment. Seeing them moved me so much and I had to write something. It also brought back memories.