I Looked for a Flower

I looked for a flower
But the flowers were gone
I searched for a battle
But the battles were won
I waited for sun
In the fog and the frost
I called for a friend
But the friends were lost
I felt for my wound
But the wound was healed
I asked for a kiss
But your lips were sealed
I took twenty pictures
That were overexposed
I went to the sea 
But the sea was closed.

Dominic Raab was on holiday during the US/UK pullout from Afghanistan and the rapid takeover of the country by The Taliban. It has reasonably been asked why the Foreign Secretary did not cut short his holiday when the disaster was unfolding. Further reports have emerged that he went paddle-boarding while desperate Afghanis were attempting to flee the country. Challenged on this point during a Sky News interview on 25 August 2021, he absurdly declared ‘The stuff about me paddleboarding: nonsense. The sea was actually closed that day’. I wrote a poem to honour the melancholy haplessness of this reply.