Poetry

It goes on one at a time,
it starts when you care to act,
it starts when you do it again after they said no,
it starts when you say we and know who you mean,
and each day you mean one more.

Marge Piercy

Thursday, 18 July 2019 15:48

Who is Bertolt Brecht? and Why We Should Care in our Dark Times

Written by Anthony Squiers

in Poetry

Anthony Squiers outlines the contemporary relevance of Brecht, especially for artists who seek to produce meaningful works of art in our own dark times. On February 27, 1933 the Reichstag building, which housed the German parliament in Berlin, burst into flames. Nazi leaders alleged this to be a Communist plot…

Saturday, 13 July 2019 17:15

arise!

Written by Paul Summers

in Poetry

arise! is a poem by Paul Summers, published to celebrate the rich history and traditions of the Durham Miners’ Gala and the resurgent spirit of socialism in the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn. It's wonderful to see the proud history of the Durham Miners' Gala represented in this powerful poem.…

Wednesday, 03 July 2019 15:24

Hands Down

Written by Ray Miller

in Poetry

Hands Down by Raymond Miller Once the sniffles had begunmy wife joined in accord.I could see the ending comeand still rose to applaud just like all those years beforeand Fahrenheit 9/11,I stood up for Michael Mooreand haven't learnt my lesson. It makes me want to swing a leftat our tight-fisted…

I, Daniel Blake

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Tuesday, 25 June 2019 17:52

Waiting for Boris

in Poetry

Written by Kevin Higgins

Waiting for Borisafter Constantine Cavafy by Kevin Higgins What are they waiting for,the archbishops and casino ownersclutching their bags of cocaine,the barman at Wetherspoons eyeing the clock,and the little people who livein Jacob Rees-Mogg’s top hatwho’ve been watching things go slowly downhillsince thirteen eighty one? Boris is to arrive todayin…

Boris Johnson Jacob ReesMogg Godhelpusall

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Monday, 24 June 2019 10:27

£77 per hour

in Poetry

Written by Becky Bone

£77 per hour by Becky Bone nine thousand two hundred and fifty9250pounds per year (1 year = 20 weeks) four hundred and sixty two pounds and fifty pence per weekdivided by6 hours contact time per week £77 per hour I was pretty good at maths natural like got a C…

tuition fees

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Sunday, 16 June 2019 16:05

Bojo: Night Thoughts of a Political Journalist

in Poetry

Written by Chris Norris

Night Thoughts of a Political Journalist by Chris Norris It's faults of yours in me that I most hate.The mirror finds fresh features to despise.How intimately known each odious trait!No fault of yours I couldn't try for size. I hear you bluster, bluff, prevaricate,Twist questions round, give off-the-point replies,Yet tell…

Boris Johnson

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Sunday, 16 June 2019 15:59

Sitting Ducks

in Poetry

Written by Steve Griffiths

Sitting ducks by Steve Griffiths As we went about our humdrum little tasksthey had us in crosshairs,observing our tastes, worming into our whims, our victimhood as it was forming. The aim of the barrel waveredin a human hand, exaggerating difference,upping the contrast in the rangefinder to insistent.Just one bullet, a…

Friday, 07 June 2019 16:26

Too noxious to endure: two poems on Trump's visit to Britain

Written by Chris Norris

in Poetry

A Silence by Chris Norris There's words for right and words for wrong,There's words that give you hopeAnd words that help you get alongWhen you can scarcely cope. There's words that tell of black despair,Of torment, grief and shame,And words of love that, unaware,Convey you're not to blame. My father…

Monday, 03 June 2019 13:53

The Restoration

Written by Kevin Higgins

in Poetry

The Restoration by Kevin Higgins Election results tumble in,like pinstriped clumps of hairy baconbeing lowered via giant mechanical arminto a fizzing Jacuzzito be congratulated by the mediawho have long since discarded their G-strings. Things as they used to behave been pasted back together,or almost, like a vase broken during an…

Galway City Council

Friday, 31 May 2019 16:03

Christ is a communist and God is a miner: ‘The Sair Road’ by William Hershaw

Written by Jim Aitken

in Poetry

Jim Aitken reviews The Sair Road, by Willie Hershaw. The header image and all others in this review are by Les McConnell, the illustrator Far from creating any ‘gude and godlie’ kingdom in Scotland as a result of the Reformation there in 1560, by the time of Robert Burns (1759-96)…

Robert Burns PreRaphaelites Georgs Bernard Shaw Jesus Christ Keir Hardie Arthur Scargill Margaret Thatcher Neil Kinnock Helder Camara Pope Francis Terry Eagleton

Friday, 31 May 2019 15:56

Look at me, lingering outside this murdered church

Written by Jane Burn

in Poetry

Look at me, lingering outside this murdered church by Jane Burn Open your lids, you coal-smut, bitter thing. Undraw the blindthat your plunged doom has set in the lead of your eyes.Too many years of chimneys, licking their filth on your bricks.Nobody comes to pluck at your weeds. Look at…