Gyroscope Review 15-1 | Page 28

A Poem about Maria Teresa
 by James Graham Maria Teresa
 was taken ill one day
 at her bench in the t-shirt factory
 in El Salvador.
 She went to the toilet
 had a miscarriage
 was found unconscious
 rushed to hospital arrested charged with aggravated homicide
 sentenced to 40 years. In El Salvador
 miscarriage
 is abortion
 which is murder. Write a poem?
 About Maria? No, you have to try
 to make things happen:
 invade the noble square
 before the President’s palace
 with red-lettered banners
 ten foot broad
 and angry shouts.
 Fire demands and truths
 at the high windows. But Presidents drink fine wine
 and banter behind heavy doors.
 
 Well then, a poem. It’s no better
 and no worse. Drain off your anger
 into words. Assemble 
 hard-edged images, disorienting
 Gyroscope Review 27