AMNESTY

The performance poem AMNESTY, is meant to be read aloud by six people.

Each verse commences when the person reading that verse knows the previous speaker

is about to speak the trigger phrase, which is in italics at the end of the previous verse

(both people read the trigger phrase at the same time).

The readings should pass through the group and then back to the beginning (I will)

to then pass through another cycle (two cycles should be enough to avoid reader and audience fatigue).

Titles of each verse can be carried by the speaker on A3 card. Speakers on the left (of the page) dressed in white.

“Figure in Black” and “Prisoner” do read at the same time: it is meant to be a bit chaotic.






                                      AMNESTY



[Amnesty Member]

I will do what I can do
For you bear more than you can take.
I will hold a candle for you,
Like a star, high in the sky


[Prisoner]                                                      [Figure in Black]
                                                  
High in the sky, yet caught in the bars,                        High in the sky, and under the sea,
A waxing moon bleeds cold light through the damp air            Death comes to all, no one is free
Splashes of white fall on my hands, light up my chair,          And guns have a price, you can buy them from me
And the tight-clenched page, with the words that you wrote



[Condemned to Die]

The words that you wrote, are prayers filled with hope
But my future, “they” tell me, is tied up with rope.
A chance to forgive, a chance to cry
And no one to judge, and no one to die


[Victim of Domestic Abuse]

And no one to die, a chance to be free 
Not a wife, not a lover, a chance to be me
To walk down the street and no-one stares
In this world of dreams there is someone who cares


[Child Soldier]

Someone who cares, reaches out through the night
When I shake and I turn on the light.
I will let the bad dreams end,
For I have, at last, found a friend.