How I love to hate: A poem 

I want to go to a strange land 

meet an alien, and shred him to pieces 

I can pee on the walls 

and feel no remorse; and feel secure 

in aggression and arrogance 

I wouldn’t want to do a three-legged run 

with an alien. I won’t offer him 

a seat on the bus. It’s not ridiculous 

the way I peer at his face in disgust, 

watch the holes in his nose dilate against 

the colour of his skin. History taught me! 

Civilisation said call the next person: Bloody! 

All the hypocritical rips in its tunic, pretending 

we are the queen’s garments. 

So much confidence in the better `I’ 

So, we can hold a sword to the truth or the throat 

So, we can hold a gun to the temple or the head 

Yes, we all think we have a right to hate 

And imagine ways at how to be adept at it