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, 10 October 2019 08:23

A Very Northern Inheritance

Written by Linda Burnett

in Poetry

A Very Northern Inheritance by Linda Burnett An agony of worker aunts passed martyrdom along the female line. Each rivulet of steam and sweat, reamed achingly from unsung toil, puddled in the gene pool of the North. Eyes halfway to heaven, anchored by a hyphenated mouth, traced blueprints for our…

Tuesday, 08 October 2019 15:25

An Unannounced Inspection

Written by Ray Miller

in Poetry

An Unannounced Inspection by Raymond Miller and the royals are in for questions, under threatof Special Measures. The Household Cavalryshake and spray on popular street corners,then watch the kettles boil, before they burrowunder cover to bugger those who wished a burkhamade Her Highness less familiar. Miss Camilla has been cautioned…

Friday, 04 October 2019 14:21

Canticle of the Sun: for the Feast of St. Francis

Written by Fran Lock

in Poetry

Canticle of the Sun for the feast of St. Francis, 4 October by Fran Lock And what if we should feel like singing? Liftour undefended faces to the light, and catcha discredited tongue, gold and fleet in upper air. Hey, you up there! To you a reeling blessing;love’s honeyed physic,…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Thursday, 03 October 2019 08:47

National Poetry Day: Re-union

in Poetry

Written by Paul Summers

re-union / night at the museum(the wallaw, blyth.) by Paul Summerswith images by Chris Killip 'spoons' is stowed;its crowded bara wedge of thirst,an eager slick of growing agitation,blunt confluence of unhealed wounds,a tumour of attrition, a smudged tattoo whose tattered edgesrelish in contagion.we worship at the altar of the cut-price…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Thursday, 03 October 2019 08:37

National Poetry Day: Phineus and the Quest for Personal Independence Payment

in Poetry

Written by Alan Morrison

Phineus and the Quest for Personal Independence Payment by Alan Morrison Episode One: Phineus Among the Harpies The appeal was refused by the tribunal, the tribunal numbered Three: an insouciant judge, a glacial lawyer, and a GP Who wilfully misinterpreted him, pinned him at cross-purposes, Kept making a point of…

DWP

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Wednesday, 02 October 2019 10:41

National Poetry Day: Homobonus in Primark

in Poetry

Written by Fran Lock

Homobonus in Primark by Fran Lock where will it end? the long-sleeve t-shirts sleep, all folded over themselves like bats. black lycra’s pirate sinew stretched to slack. and tubes of ruined wool relax and lose their shape. sleeves wear the gape of empty snakes. disfigured fabrics frayed in heaps. a…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Wednesday, 02 October 2019 10:27

National Poetry Day: Fingered

in Poetry

Written by Nadia Drews

Fingered By Nadia Drews He put two fingers upNicotine-tippedA little prickSnickeringBalls barely droppedHawking up snot to spit cockinessChock-full of spunkTickling mid-airTeasing the pleasure from his waiting matesTaking the piss, fake masturbatingGrinning a tongue-flicking grinEar to earStretched clear to the sideLike knicker elastic, leg lifted leering wide-eyedHis mates hissing ‘You lie’He…

Wednesday, 02 October 2019 09:03

National Poetry Day: Raptures and Captures

Written by Fran Lock

in Poetry

Fran Lock introduces Raptures and Captures, her latest book of poetry, which follows on from Muses and Bruises and Ruses and Fuses. ‘Keep your mind in Hell and despair not.’ It’s a stern injunction. It is also a radical one. Saint Silouan, we’re told, struggled against demons. Specifically, he struggled…

Sunday, 29 September 2019 20:52

National Poetry Day: Futures in Finance

Written by Steve Griffiths

in Poetry

Futures in Finance by Steve Griffiths Shapes occur in this gamewith no guiding hand to form them -new behaviours and patternsthat morph and self-replicate.Something’s knitting on its own:simple action into unpredictablecomplexity, breeding an impetusmore powerful than anythingyou could intend. The ripple has its endbeyond imagined competence;where unrestrainedthe market’s every variablemultiplies…

Friday, 27 September 2019 12:49

National Poetry Day: In Union

Written by Sally Flint

in Poetry

In Union by Sally Flint i.m. Bob CrowBorn in reach of the London Minthe watched men make money –got to know the value of working daysas families were transported from slumsand shared bathrooms to fieldsand forests which seemed the other side of the world. Coming home was the only way.His…

Thursday, 26 September 2019 20:55

National Poetry Day: Glomar

Written by Fran Lock

in Poetry

Glomar by Fran Lock i the city comes in waves. poor worker bee, it’s clinical now, an ideal doom, the sleepy grief of airports. tried to stay in motion. walk around, not-shopping. coffee. millimetric sips. is slow embalming, boils the tongue, both fidgety and numb. carousels and carousels and paperbacks.…