In his dark room he is finally alone
with spools of suffering set out in ordered rows.
The only light is red and softly glows,
as though this were a church and he
a priest preparing to intone a Mass.
Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh. All flesh is grass.

He has a job to do. Solutions slop in trays
beneath his hands, which did not tremble then
though seem to now. Rural England. Home again
to ordinary pain which simple weather can dispel,
to fields which don’t explode beneath the feet
of running children in a nightmare heat.

Something is happening. A stranger’s features
faintly start to twist before his eyes,
a half-formed ghost. He remembers the cries
of this man’s wife, how he sought approval
without words to do what someone must
and how the blood stained into foreign dust.

A hundred agonies in black and white
from which his editor will pick out five or six
for Sunday’s supplement. The reader’s eyeballs prick
with tears between the bath and pre-lunch beers.
From the aeroplane he stares impassively at where
he earns his living and they do not care.

"He has a job to do" - Short, simple monosyllabic words, he has a job to do so puts emotions aside

"A hundred agonies in black and white" - Emotive metaphor to describe photos. This confirms the solidity of the suffering, by photos being printed

War photographer in darkroom developing pictures. Being back home is a big contrast to the war zones. The photographer remembers the suffering. And shows how us as people won't take much notice of these people who are suffering

Detachment: The photographer is detached from his emotions in the war zones so he can do his job. He is detached from his life at home as well.

Anger: The poem ends with a seance of anger at the people who don't care about the suffering.

Pain: The photographs depict real pain and there's also the emotional pain of the woman who has lost her husband. The horrific pain of war contrasts with the pain back home

The grieving Widow is compared to with people in England who's eyes only "prick with tears", - suggesting they don't suffer pain in the ways the people of war zones do.

Poem uses powerful and emotive language which reflect the horrors of war seen by the photographer. True horror of conflict represented in this way.

The religious language makes it sound like he is a priest conducting a funeral, - ceremony to actions