by Mike Mesterton-Gibbons
Murals of cartoon characters including Mickey Mouse and Baloo from The Jungle Book painted on the walls of an asylum seeker reception centre to welcome children have been removed on the orders of the immigration minister, Robert Jenrick. The murals were painted over because he thought they were too welcoming and sent the wrong message. —The Guardian, July 7, 2023
The Immigration chief on Team UK
Has ordered: Whitewash walls—kids shouldn't be
Encouraged to feel welcome here if they
Migrated in small boats across the sea.
In Dover, staff demurred at playing ball.
Cartoons of Mickey Mouse and bear Baloo—
Kind gestures in a mural on a wall—
Extended caring hands of friendship to
Young kids, alone. But now those pictures are
Misguidedly effaced. What art will go
Up in their place? Cruella? Scar? Jafar? ...
Right minds must feel embarrassed, since they know
An action that's appalling and absurd
Lets Britain down—and no child is deterred.Mike Mesterton-Gibbons is a Professor Emeritus at Florida State University who has returned to live in his native England. His acrostic sonnets have appeared in Autumn Sky Poetry Daily, Better Than Starbucks, the Creativity Webzine, Current Conservation, the Daily Mail, the Ekphrastic Review, Grand Little Things, Light, Lighten Up Online, The New Verse News, Oddball Magazine, Rat’s Ass Review, the Satirist, The Washington Post, and WestWard Quarterly.