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After the Hillsborough final inquest verdict - Lisa Fannen

from Faultline by Lisa Fannen and...

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  • Faultline is a collection of poetry published by Active Distribution/Sto Citas, November 2018. The poems are political and personal (and an examination of where those territories meet), observational and contemplative, and travel through explorations of social inequality, police violations, street homelessness in the US, environmental disaster, intimate experiences of queer sexuality, rites of passage and bereavement, also the power of guidance and renewal. Paperback, 127 pages.
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lyrics

After the Hillsborough final inquest verdict
For the family and friends who fought 27 years for justice
Tuesday 26th April 2016

Granular VHS, red and white strip, pitch, the typical
stadium throb, six minutes in they call off the game
the camera scanning, young folks dragging themselves
over the fencing lying on the ground breathless, the
surging crush lifting people onto the balcony like
ragdolls, it was four deep dead at the front.

And the view was clear from the surveillance terrace
but the call was for police dogs not medical support
and at 3.15pm while people were dying, Chief
Superintendant David Duckenfield lied about the
exit gate he had had opened to let people in.

The police that beat folk back as they tried to climb
and the ambulances that came but were just parked up
outside and the cops told to line up across the stadium
guided only by a terror of losing control of the crowd.

The young men hauling advertising hoardings as
stretchers They’re dying in there, they’re all dying in there
and the father on the turf with the bodies of both his
daughters on the ground by his side saying Help me,
please God, not both of them, they’re all we’ve got.

The dead on the dirty, makeshift morgue floor. The
police coroner ordering blood alcohol level checks on
all who died and the police photographer sent out to
‘gather evidence’ taking pictures of the litter at the
turnstiles.

That rapid manufacture of narrative; drunken hooligan,
the working class mob, while ruthless, institutional
self-defence buried its negligence and prejudice under
piles of systematic deceit; hundreds of police officer
statements edited of criticism or comment before
they went to the inquiry.

That one black and white photograph, people’s faces
rammed against the wire mesh, the aftermath, bent
metal railings, clothing strewn across the gaping empty,
the bereft, the broken. Those ninety six faces on the
memorial wall you run the cursor over, one short
paragraph about each life and the cause and the
approximate time of death.

That unanimous final vote. Unlawful killing. Inside the
courtroom applause, hugging, tears. And afterwards
friends and family stood together one more time
and sang.

credits

from Faultline, released May 22, 2020
Voice recorded by Jer Reid.
Sound produced and mixed by Lisa Fannen

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Lisa Fannen Scotland, UK

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