The walls that fell

On 14th February I was invited to read at the Harbour Bar in Bray, Co. Wicklow, Ireland. It was great to be "down south" again and reading poetry to a small, but dedicated audience. The night was organised by The Centre for Creative Practices as part of their New Voices Ireland Series. I read about the cities I lived in/ visited and wrote about and about the walls that marked my life. The Iron Curtain, the Berlin Wall, both thankfully demolished. Sadly, a smaller version of the Iron Curtain has been pulled up on the southern border of Hungary - "to protect our country and Europe from illegal immigrants". The same move is being considered in America - and we all know about the walls that mark the refugee centres in Callais. But I don't have to go so far. The so called Peace Wall is still in existence in Belfast, dividing Catholics and Protestants. John Lennon's words echo in my mind, still so relevant after so many years: Imagine there's no religion....