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

Tuesday, 06 June 2017 15:13

The Greatest Gift of Boris J: A New Dunciad

Written by Chris Norris

in Poetry

The Greatest Gift of Boris J:a New Dunciad by Christopher Norris The greatest gift of Boris JWas having lots of things to sayThat sounded smart but very soonRevealed him as a prize buffoon.His father quickly saw the boyWas most unlikely to enjoyPreferment of the kind that cameOf native wit, since…

Boris Johnson Boris Johnson's Dad

Saturday, 03 June 2017 18:45

An Irish Politician Speaks

Written by Kathryn Keane

in Poetry

An Irish Politician Speaks by Kathryn Keane Of course what you're doingis phenomenal, I've no doubt aboutthat, and I'll stay safely behind youevery step of the way.And of course it's a fine cause,something we should all besupporting, and all it needsis someone just like youto lead the way and someone…

Saturday, 03 June 2017 08:29

Mud

Written by Susan Millar DuMars

in Poetry

Mud by Susan Millar DuMars You did right to stay put. We admire you. You, with your gun and your country. Your children squat in the mud they were made from. We want to help you. Those who ran, are still running, they’re not noble. Not solid. They flit and…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Saturday, 27 May 2017 15:44

At Shannon

in Poetry

Written by James Martyn Joyce

At Shannon by James Martyn Joyce The black man wielding the bottle of Tia Maria and the chocolates,Padding to the checkout, is the full-stop that makes him look,Makes him see the others:Uniformed ants feeding through the shelves,Aran sweaters and golfing hats clasped to their sand-brown chests,Multiples of vodka clinking in…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Thursday, 25 May 2017 18:43

This is the place

in Poetry

Written by Tony Walsh

Tony Walsh reads out his poem 'The Place' at the vigil on Albert Square for the victims of the Manchester attack.

Manchester Attack

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Wednesday, 17 May 2017 17:44

For the Many not the Few

in Poetry

Written by Zita Holbourne

If All the People Voted for the Many Not the Few by Zita Holbourne If all the people who didn't vote used their vote They'd force politicians to sit up and take note The number of young people who didn't vote at allOutnumbered those voting last election in total If…

Labour Manifesto jeremy corbyn

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Friday, 05 May 2017 10:27

For Joe Skipsey: The Pitman Poet of Percy Main

in Poetry

Written by Keith Armstrong

For Joe Skipsey: The Pitman Poet of Percy Main (1832-1903) by Keith Armstrong 'He'll tell his tale o'er a pint of ale,And crack his joke, and badMust be the heart who loveth notTo hear the Collier Lad.' - Joe Skipsey To be a pitman poetyou drag wordsout of the seam of…

Wednesday, 03 May 2017 21:17

Ballade upon 'Warts and All'

Written by Rip Bulkeley

in Poetry

Ballade upon ‘Warts and all’ by Rip Bulkeley Only the old world could providethe means by which to reach the new,wreck timbers soiled by the tideof history which a stumbling crewhave cobbled for a rough canoe,then launched with hope for all our sakesdespite the fact, which they well knew,that politicians…

jeremy corbyn

Tuesday, 25 April 2017 21:10

May in Dolgellau

Written by Mike Jenkins

in Poetry

May in Dolgellau by Mike Jenkins Croeso i Gymru!Come to Walesif you want to make decisions,ramble on Yr Eryrijust like the PM Theresa May. Not only between lovespoonswith two balls in cagesand a slate plaqueinscribed in inspiring Welsh –‘Crach wedi codi o’r cachu’. Come to Dolgellau,new capital of ‘penderfyniadau’ –let…

Theresa May

Thursday, 13 April 2017 15:38

Hidden Culture, Forgotten History

Written by Bruce Wilkinson

in Poetry

Bruce Wilkinson introduces his new book on the 1960s Northern countercultural underground of avant-garde poetry. Hidden Culture, Forgotten History covers East Lancashire radicalism which sprang from the 1960s ‘little poetry magazines’ of working-class writers and editors Jim Burns, Dave Cunliffe and Tina Morris. Although the poetry scene’s influence on the…

Sunday, 26 March 2017 19:16

Black night, white snow: Alexander Blok's The Twelve

Written by John Ellison

in Poetry

John Ellison discusses Alexander Blok's great poem The Twelve, and its links to the Russian Revolution. I came fresh, utterly fresh, to the most famous poem by Alexander Blok - The Twelve - written in January 1918, and the freshest of poetic responses to the November Bolshevik revolution. Before reading…

Alexander Blok Russian Revolution The Twelve