Four Minutes – Diane Scantlebury

No one had noticed the bright star in the east,
As they sat down to gorge
At the table laden with Xmas feast,
They chose to ignore the plight
Of those destitute and in need,
While they stripped to the bone
Every morsel in their greed,
Not a thought for the child
Whose birth they celebrated
And was in a stable born,
When they sat groaning on the sofa, stuffed,
Amongst the debris of wrapping paper torn,

News of wars, famine and devastation
Bypassed their booze-glazed vision,
As they sank comatose, in deep slumber
To snore like hogs in front of the television,
No one had noticed the bright flash
Of light in the east,
The warning of impending apocalypse
Four minutes before,
The arrival of the beast.

Diane Scantlebury