Docupoetry: Kaiser

Kaiser

Perpendicular

With designer streets

Of designer clothes

Ebor street

Opens up the argument

In Shoreditch

Waiting

For a reply

Her voice arrived

Before she did

Cutting through

The gentrified air

Adding colour

To the graffiti

'Because you're male

And I'm female' she said.

Amidst the cursing

And swearing

And pointing

At the injustice

Hanging there

Plain to see

Unlike his manhood

She shouts down the side street

At one of four young men

Not saying a word

That could be heard

Over the tirade of abuse

She waged

And staged

Righteously

Standing in the middle of the road

Her oversized striped

Multicoloured

Padded

Lumberjack type shirt

Saggy tracky bottoms

And greasy short hair

Scraped back

Into a tiny pony tail

That did nothing

Practical

Or for appearance

But balanced her profile

Standing defiantly

And with the nonchalance

Of only someone

With a chip on her shoulder

She's had so long

It's a comfort

A cushion

To lay her head on at night

When the gentrified air turns cold

And regeneration provides

No roof

Over her head,

Or calms

Her head

This is her home

They are walking through

They should have more respect

And to a woman

Don't they know?

She wonders

Leaning up

Against the street art

The wallpaper of her world

Rolling a roly

In the great ashtray of her life

Only looking up

To berate the guys

Some more

Long gone

She swears at them

And at the world

And continues on

Past the street-long

Building-tall

Giant word

EXTORTIONISTS

Turning left onto

Redchurch Street

Still cursing

Long forgotten deities

In London's

18th Century slums

And called by Engels

The worst conditions

Of the working class

In 19th century England

But today designer streets

With no room on the inside

For her

She is gone

But her voice remains

Screaming 'Kaiser'

At the very extremity

Of her range

The louder she shouts

The further the sound travels

And the wider her world

This is her personal space

She shouts

'Kaiser',

There is no reply

'Kaiser' she shouts again

Still nothing.

Is he the illusive

Keyser Söze

The Usual Suspects ask

He will not be found

The Shoreditch crowd

Concur and continue

To confer in

Trendy bars and cafes

With the 70s eclectic look

Of London in New York

With eco-friendly earthy names

Like HunterGather Cafe

So far from its cave man roots

Apart from the carrot juice

Banana cake and WiFi

How far we've come!

A dog ambles in

Through the open door

Skirts the legs of people and tables

Can't be taken seriously

Wearing a snood

For a collar

Is it a bandanna?

Dogs don't wear snoods

Dogs don't wear anything

Emperor's new clothes?

Emperor. Caesar. Kaiser.

A scream

'Get out Kaiser'

He's found

And

Tail between his legs

Follows her out

As the Barista

Says quietly

'There's no need to shout'

When in fact

There is

Bank Holiday Monday, the afternoon of April 6th 2015 Ebor Street, by Eine's graffiti piece 'Extortionists' and Red Church Street, once the worst slum in London and now a place for the hipsters and wealthy of London to shop and dine.

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