Entering the Age
of Censorship
(For Sally Rooney)
They always come for the one
Whose light is on
And who speaks truth
About a people being effaced.
They always come for the one
Who refuses to extend darkness,
In silence or in compromise.
They come after your livelihood
They come after your books
They don’t care how it looks
How it speaks a new tyranny
Sanctioned now by the state.
What they do to one writer they
Do to all of us. Then in the danger
Of these times no one is safe from
Those who prefer silence about
The daylight bombing of children
And the endless tears of mothers.
We have entered the age
Of informal censorship. Let
Us no longer pretend
That we’re living in truth.
Unmentionable deaths
Stain our souls with blood.
The light of democracy died
A little when they pulled her books
Off the shelves, because she
Wants more justice
In this cowering world.
They are coming for you,
Friend, if your light is on.
Ben Okri
Just can't get in the Christmas mood
Good Morning Sunday 8th November 2026
