Tank Defences

The Tank Defences

Along the shore, the tank defences squat:

Concrete blocks, aged and greying,

Remind us that peace is won, and lost:

As fragile as the light that's fading.

The energy of their violent creation,

Now bound in mass and matter rough,

And though in truth they are decaying,

Entropy is slow by human clocks.

Their task done, yet they endure:

Senseless soldiers they remain.

What if their energy could be released?

Repurposed for growth, and used again?

But no, it cannot, at least not simply.

And thinking so brings unease;

Within we make our own defences,

And fear how alike are they to these?

David Gillanders

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David Gillanders is a Senior Lecturer in Clinical Psychology at the University of Edinburgh, his main interest is in the integration of psychological science with humanistic values, acceptance, mindfulness and self-compassion based approaches.

His research programme focusses on the application of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to living well with chronic health problems.