Our world is alive with public
declarations, territorial admonitions
and artistic explorations,
scribbled, scratched, stencilled and daubed,
bombed and tagged on toilet walls,
buildings, trains, bridges and the underground.
Simple words chipped on ancient tombs,
elaborate murals sprayed with paint,
angry political cartoons drawn with marker,
some in monochrome, others fluorescent,
we leave semi-anonymous traces
of social comment and political ideals,
declarations of love, curses and spells.
Kilroy is still here.
Kim M. Russell, 12th November 2019
My response to Thotpurge’s Poetry Tuesday #2 – New
The prompt today is ‘New; – whatever strikes us as timely, relevant, in your face, here and now. Rajani invites us to share our poems, old or new. I’ve taken an old poem from 2015 and updated it to make it new.
writing in north norfolk 
Oh love the Kilroy reference, Kim! And it draws my mind to Banksy as much as it does to Instagram – our public declarations are indeed everywhere. Here’s hoping they make a difference too! Thanks so much for joining Poetry Tuesday!
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Thank goodness! (K)
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Your last line made me smile, then look through your image to find the Kilroy, and, not seeing the classical figure, translate your words to a hopeful witness. Possibly we will get away with nothing; possibly graffiti is so ubiquitous that people stop reading the signs.
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Thank you, Susan. I wonder what future generations or even visitors to this planet will make of the graffiti.
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So is Banksy! (I love graffitti, even the crudest. And was brought up loving Kilroy, though he was more an English than Aussie figure I think.)
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Oh, I see Rajani thought of Bansky too. 🙂
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“scribbled, scratched, stencilled and daubed,
bombed and tagged on toilet walls,” – What came before social media? Bathroom stall full of advice, declarations of love and slander.
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I remember reading graffiti on the bathroom wall!
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I love this, Kim. I’m sort of fascinated by graffiti–I don’t like all of it, but it’s so interesting how even people thousands of years ago felt compelled to write on walls.
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Thank you, Merril. I always wanted to visit that cave in France with the prehistoric art.
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It would be so amazing. I think those caves are closed to visitors now. There is cave art in North America, too–not as old, but still fascinating, though I’ve only see photos.
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One of the most interesting places we’ve seen in our travels was Valparaiso, Chile. Why? The street art everywhere was amazing! The perspective (political as well as simply the geometric kind) was amazing. From vibrant colors to black and white. Some graffiti probably done in the dead of night and secretly to planned and carefully executed works of what art. And yes….think about the graffiti, stories, etched in cave walls by long ago peoples. All messages, feelings, an actual part of those who have been to the very place we stand, before us.
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You’ve been to such fabulous places and seen so many things, Lill. Have you thought about writing a book about them?
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Murals, grafitti everywhere Kim! You captured it here, and I had forgotten about Kilroy!
Good one…JIM
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Cheers Jim!
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This is exquisitely drawn, Kim! I especially admire this part; “we leave semi-anonymous traces of social comment and political ideals, declarations of love, curses and spells.” Yes! ❤️❤️❤️
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Thank you, Sanaa! ❤
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