- riot squadnounChapter 1 →
A specially trained unit of police or soldiers equipped to control or break up violent public disturbances, typically using shields, batons, and protective gear.
“Suddenly as the riot squad moved in, it was raining exclamation marks.”
- confettinounChapter 1 →
Here, not the paper thrown at celebrations, but sharp fragments of metal — nuts, bolts, and nails — scattered by a bomb blast as improvised shrapnel.
- shrapnelnounChapter 1 →
Fragments of metal violently thrown outward by an explosion, capable of causing serious injury to anyone nearby.
- punctuatedverbChapter 1 →
Interrupted or broken up at intervals by something sharp or sudden; here, each movement through the street is stopped or marked by an obstacle or explosion.
“Every move is punctuated. Crimea Street. Dead end again.”
- dead endnounChapter 1 →
A street or passage that is closed off at one end with no way through, leaving a person with no route forward.
“Every move is punctuated. Crimea Street. Dead end again.”
- checkpointnounChapter 1 →
A barrier set up by military or police forces at which people must stop and be questioned or searched before being allowed to pass.
- Troublesnoun
The period of ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland, roughly 1968–1998, involving paramilitary groups, the British Army, and civilian communities, marked by bombings, shootings, and civil unrest.
- exclamation marksnounChapter 1 →
Punctuation symbols used to signal shock or force; in this poem they stand for the sudden, violent jolts of an explosion scattering debris through the air.
“Suddenly as the riot squad moved in, it was raining exclamation marks.”
Belfast ConfettiShort story by Ciaran Carson