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

Friday, 17 January 2020 09:46

An Eton Mess

Written by Chris Norris

in Poetry

An Eton Mess by Christopher Norris, with cartoon by Martin Gollan We’re in an Eton mess, my friends,We’re in an Eton mess.Those posh-boy crooks have cocked their snooksAnd cooked the books when no one looks:That’s how it goes I guess, my friends,That’s how it goes I guess. We’re back up…

Boris Johnson

Sunday, 12 January 2020 18:40

Saints Not Servants

Written by Craig Campbell

in Poetry

Saints Not Servants by Craig Campbell On a distant radioDigital – as modern emperorsThought of Chinese silkThe faint whispers of a Boro chantRap outThrough the corridors of Holme HouseA prison built on Stockton wastelandWith righteous handsWhere else would the ToriesCrack whipsThrough the smogAnd stale chipsDesignate the square root of the…

Friday, 03 January 2020 09:41

What They Don’t Know Is

Written by Kevin Higgins

in Poetry

What They Don’t Know Is by Kevin Higgins That this cannot be avoided by everyone wearing protective glasses.That the contents of their half-full cups are about to evaporate.That the University will remain closed until further notice.That Kim Kardashian’s arse has been abolished.That the idea of tomorrow is suddenly quaint as…

Trump Iran

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Thursday, 02 January 2020 18:54

Fixers: post-election thoughts

in Poetry

Written by Chris Norris

Fixers: post-election thoughts by Christopher Norris, with image by Martin Gollan Now the year was twenty-twentyAnd the times were looking bad,For although the rich had plentyThey clung tight to what they had. There were rich folk in big houses,There were poor folk on the street,And the rich said 'stuff your…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Monday, 30 December 2019 22:36

After the Latest Defeat

in Poetry

Written by David Betteridge

After the Latest Defeatby David Betteridge The defenders are not demoralised,nor do they abandon their positions,even among the ruins,nor do they lose faith in their own strengthor their own future. - Antonio Gramsci I Can wells,that a long drought made bitter,self-restore? Can sparks,scattered from a beaten fire,be raked in, and…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Sunday, 29 December 2019 09:18

The Tory Cake

in Poetry

Written by Robert Phoenix

The Tory Cake by Robert Phoenix For the Tory cake add 8 pounds of the finest flour for the landed gentryAnd 2 pounds of sugar for the corporate rich bastards For the exploited working-class cakeadd 4 pounds of wood shavings and some floor dust and a tiny thimble full of…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Tuesday, 24 December 2019 09:52

Tiocfaidh Do Lá

in Poetry

Written by Kevin Higgins

Tiocfaidh Do Lá by Kevin Higgins Dear great-uncle-in-law in Larne, who secretly thinks people should cease picking on the poor Duke of York. You punched the air so vigorously the night Doris Johnson won his victory and properorder was temporarily restored that your wife was about to speed-dial the cardiologist…

Wednesday, 18 December 2019 14:19

Backlash

Written by Kevin Higgins

in Poetry

Backlash by Nameafter Nina Simone by Kevin Higgins, with image by Martin Gollan The moment you grow too surehe sends the world into reverse;one by one, begins taking back your Christmas presents and keepstaking until you have lessthan you had December the first,the year you were born. He stuffs you…

Monday, 16 December 2019 15:54

Shame

Written by Ray Miller

in Poetry

Shame by Ray Miller The morning after, my wife said she didn'tknow anybody who voted Tory,as if they might be possessed of two heads. One for public display, one kept hidden,like the wicked witch in a fairy story,who every five years produces a hex. She'd woken to find a transfigured…

Monday, 16 December 2019 10:38

The Buttering of the Bread

Written by Rob Walton

in Poetry

The Buttering of the Bread by Rob Walton, with image by Martin Gollan Just because I changed to the Toriespeople tell me I don't knowwhich side my bread is butteredwhen in actual factand no word of a liethe smiling Mr Johnsonbuttered both sides. He covered one side in our beloved…

Election Boris Johnson

Saturday, 14 December 2019 09:27

black friday

Written by Fran Lock

in Poetry

black friday by Fran Lock, with unlovable labour by Steev Burgess hours awake, the news beginsits lisping instrumental. incidentalmusic for a hunger strike. the tv'sbland incitements. johnson's mouth,a gimmicked sleeve. dandelionand atomised, we barely breathe.hours awake. cities: slagheapsof a mass extinction. burningdirty crack-rock earth. we areready. for the end times,…

the election Boris Johnson