The Statue by Aidan Baker

The panels round the plinth, to shield

the sponsor's vanity,

embed his moving in the herd,

confer impunity,

say Bristol citizens erected

Colston's memorial.

But Arrowsmith had to make up

fifteen percent shortfall.

A longer fall had it come down

to cheers and denting crash,

be rolled along the street logwise,

bigger than common trash,

to railings of the waterfront

and river-plunging shock.

It lies on wood with perspex shield

now, and some tried to block

the show with human shield no-show.

Deleted tweets distil

that phase. Others, not blockers, wish

the fall were longer still.

---

Aidan Baker is a retired librarian living in Cambridge, England. His poems have appeared in numerous outlets both printed and online, including _Sledgehammer_, _Orbis_, _RIC_ and projects from 26 Characters. He blogs his published poems at blurtmetry.blogspot.com , writes for _East Anglia bylines_ and tweets as @AidanBaker.