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

Saturday, 07 September 2024 13:41

Two poems for students, by Jenny Mitchell

Written by Jenny Mitchell

in Poetry

Image above by Chad MCail Abecedarian for Higher Education A news account some years ago said several Bereaved parents formed a group,Commissioned a report into studentDeaths. Why so many suicides Entering the final year? Was it fear ofFailed exams, or as written in the note a Girl scrawled just before…

Friday, 23 August 2024 08:39

The Kristallnacht Variations

Written by James O Brien

in Poetry

The Kristallnacht Variations by James O'Brien Children of rape in a disputed territory,Cry from diseased hinterlands, abandoned,The striated embellishment of the spray can,The incendiary enticement of petrol, Your ink read now, your voice,Revealed as a voided contest,You were encouraged to vent your bile,How proud you appear now, In White zones…

Wednesday, 21 August 2024 15:13

Waiting for Huck Finn's Raft

Written by Fred Voss

in Poetry

Waiting for Huck Finn's Raft by Fred Voss I remember the old longhaired turret lathe operatorstandingon the sidewalk outside the big 100-year-old wooden doorof the old downtown LA factoryas I drove past him toward the factory parking lot to clock in to workand the sun rosehis legpropped on a red…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Sunday, 18 August 2024 09:14

'Green and Pleasant Land' and 'Algorithms of Rage'

in Poetry

Written by Peter Devonald

Green and Pleasant Land by Peter Devonald Beauty is now just shattered glass glistening, reflecting blood drenched red moons sighing,smashed dreams of a once happy and pleasant land, drenched by falling waterfalls of blood, a memory. The fear, the fear, grows fuming dragon wings,terror spreads with every angry vicious word,vileness…

Riots

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Friday, 16 August 2024 09:03

Citius. Altius. Fortius. Summer '24

in Poetry

Written by Arran Potts

Citius. Altius. Fortius. Summer '24 by Arran Potts This is the kick. After a dirty racefought with elbows andspikes dragged through skin.Masked flags and anthemscoached into your town.Little battles on the bends andskirmishes on the straights;Vaulting logic and jumping to conclusions. Hurling stones at mosques;Hammering police;Carrying their torches to hotels.This…

Riots Olympic Games

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Friday, 16 August 2024 08:52

Rioter

in Poetry

Written by Claudia Court

Rioter by Claudia Court He arrives on scene with just a pinch of resentment a teaspoon of fight swirling in his heart stirred by his belief that there are those out to steal his future all three kilos of it.The brick in his hand weighs just an ounceof his bitterness…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Wednesday, 14 August 2024 08:27

The Immigrant In The Room - And On The Street

in Poetry

Written by David Erdos

The Immigrant In The Room - And On The Street by David Erdos It seems quiet here now, and yet Uxbridge neighbours Hounslow,As do other strained suburbs in other cities near, other towns As the Anti-Immigration lobby extend their hate filled roomsTo chase pavements, not as Duffy did, but as…

Wednesday, 14 August 2024 07:49

May/Oral

Written by Jo Colley

in Poetry

May/Oral by Jo Colley Put on a hi-viz jacket, and you could be anyone, here in sprawling Teesside hinterlands: aspirational, Houchened, overlooked, with only ourselves to think about, now everything is halfway to hell. We plough on through housing estates, bramble cuffed, Roseberry Topping lurking under fog. There’s always football:…

Teeside mayor Ben Houchen

Friday, 02 August 2024 08:00

Swimming in a Fishbowl of Piranhas

Written by Sam Friedman

in Poetry

Swimming in a fishbowl of piranhas by Sam Friedman There is not a lot of poetryin a job from 9 to 5and this tiny rhythmic remnantlives in fear of 8 to 7for there's precious little livingin a life of overtimeand art's a precious morselfor a greedy grabbing job.

Friday, 26 July 2024 12:21

What Rough Beast? A REVISED Callout for Poetry and Artworks about Donald Trump, Trumpism, the USA and the world

Written by Culture Matters

in Poetry

Image above: Jose Guadalupe Posada's Gran Calavera Eléctrica BELOW IS THE REVISED CALLOUT: PLEASE NOTE NEW GUIDELINES AND NEW DEADLINE OF 10 OCTOBER 2024 Donald Trump has already made the USA a more dangerous and divided place to live in. The prospect of a second term with him as president…

Thursday, 25 July 2024 10:25

Drowning in Berlin

Written by Fran Lock

in Poetry

I was recently in Berlin for the first time. I was invited for the 25th annual Poesiefestival. I was nervous. As the last of my circle to go, Berlin has always existed for me as this place of parallel possibility: an infinitely exciting elsewhere. I'd been anxiously anticipating my trip,…