blessed are the children/
newsagents and takeaways are their post-school tabernacles/
they congregate behind bus stops/ righteously praying over
one of their own/ fallen from grace/ at their feet and their mercy
blessed are the children/
NatWest closed for security reasons while
passers-by are crosscutting the High Road
in measured pace/ carefully containing
their subservience/ betraying their
adult selves with hurried glances
at the horde of worshippers/ never daring
to disturb their liturgy of perdition
blessed are the children/
South London offspring/ bound by
their tribe’s sacred traditions/
safety only in pious conformity/ disobedience warrants
excommunication/ lords of flies
shepherding their flock till
kingdom come
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