manchester remains
the Capital
of the asbo industry
imposing
one thousand and forty five orders
one in seven out of all²

bush baby

she hadn’t been cuddled
she hadn’t been clothed
she hadn’t been fed
she was
after birth
repeatedly stabbed
through her vernix coat
left to die under
a bush

blawn ti bits

wi waited fir
yir descent,ti
pit glitter oan
yir halo:angel in
th’bus queue,
weigh’doon wi’this
season’s tragedies –
whitivir happen’d ti
oor ‘wee’queenie,oor
darlin’i’th’
salt gritters n’snaw
drift boys,i’
early mornin’karaokes n’
pissed-up nickin’
sprees? –
in a tower
block,naeb’dy heard yi
scream:who’ll greet
o’er yi noo,n’
pey fir th’
funeral? –
‘funny love’in a
shellsuit cocktail,glitter
aw faded n’a
halo zipp’d n’
blawn ti bits    

the dispersal zone
 
they arrive
in twos /
in twos/ and threes in

     torrential rain sheltering
    behind
    the primary school

their chilled
hands clutching
bottles of Buck
fast and Vodka

they don’t always
cause trouble
just want to be
    together
to have     
a drink
a smoke
and a laugh
 
I     think     I’m addicted
        but
drinking     makes you

feel     more     confident

 
the only reason     there
are fights     is boredom

th Gangs rip the hell
out of you³

black blue permanent
 
wiz a black
blue a shell
suit massacre
wiz dark,but
no a ‘dark’
dark,rain tae
n’cauld aw
th’time,wi
air gun gangs
bristlin’ wi’ intent
black blue permanent


The Artist
71,
touched     up     his
garden ornament
    tallest in Britain

he hopes
to cast the figure
—a 23ft Statue of Honour—
in concrete     and donate
her
to Torquay

as a symbol
of moral values
in a world of ASBOs⁴

Your Honesty
and
Self Respect

Contribute
to Safe
and Happy
Environments

¹The Guardian, 22^nd December 2006

²random internet statistics

³The Scotsman, 29^th November 2006

⁴The Guardian, as before