RED TAPE

No wonder they call it red:

to set all the alarm bells off

and signal danger ahead!

An ancient adrenalin alert encoded -

to fight or flee, 

employed in these literary days,

to underline and asterisk

bureaucracy's loutish step

to coerce, save time and control

their herds of wayward sheep

with the endorsed clout off law and authority.

There’s an implicit threat implied

plus hierarchical dominance;

the eternal us/them dichotomy

of separation and preference

as if consensus and respect

• let alone Trust -

were never ever heard of.