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, 28 February 2019 09:57

Listening Exercise

Written by Kevin Higgins

in Poetry

When the Independent Group (Chuka et al) broke away last week, John McDonnell said that the Labour Party needed now to conduct a "massive listening exercise." Listening Exerciseafter John McDonnell When you paint hatred on my garden walland front door, I will read your wordswith great interest. When you try…

Sunday, 24 February 2019 19:58

Another kind of beauty

Written by Fred Voss

in Poetry

Another kind of beauty by Fred Voss The young womanstands at the Bridgeport millin the cold machine shop morning air she has pulled the hood of her jacket overher headbaggy work pants and shirt big work boots coverher bodyonly her face and hands stick out for us men machinists to…

Saturday, 23 February 2019 22:16

Messiah for the Misled: to Trump

Written by Chad Norman

in Poetry

Messiah for the Misled*to Trump by Chad Norman For some mysterious and freaky reasontoday I feel the need to forgive America,not the nation you mislead and disgust,and not the whole country you lied tobut a need coursing through mebecause I am a Canadian and youtook something very wrong upon yourselfto…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Friday, 22 February 2019 16:29

where we got the importance of peas from

in Poetry

Written by Martin Hayes

where we got the importance of peas from by Martin Hayes there have always been jobs ever since we were able to stand upand grew handsthings to clean things to cook things to count things to watchthings to tie up like shoes and birthday presentsthings to ironlike shirts and petticoats…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Thursday, 21 February 2019 10:37

In praise of strangeness

in Poetry

Written by Fran Lock

Fran Lock writes in praise of a working-class poetics that revels in richness and strangeness, and includes a strange and rich poem taken from her forthcoming collection with Culture Matters, In Need of Saints. For women, then, poetry is not a luxury. It is a vital necessity of our existence.…

Audre Lord Primark

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Monday, 18 February 2019 11:42

Cuneiform

in Poetry

Written by Peter Clive

This poem is written in memory of Tom Leonard, 1948-2018, see here. Cuneiform by Peter Clive Everything lies in ruins. This Glasgowis an ancient ruined city by the Euphratesafter some rival, or barbarian invasion,or simply the passage of time has had its way,gap sites where ziggurats once stood, shardsscattered across…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Thursday, 14 February 2019 20:59

Pigeon problem

in Poetry

Written by Martin Hayes and Jamie Thrasivoulu

pigeon problem by Martin Hayes and Jamie Thrasivoulu I got a letter from the council inviting me to attend a meeting in the old youth clubthat has now been shut downand turned into a council officeto talk about the pigeon problem we get these pigeons you see around our flats…

Wednesday, 06 February 2019 09:48

For Jeremy Hardy

Written by Chris Norris

in Poetry

For Jeremy Hardy (1961-2019) by Christopher Norris The only way you can ever accuse a Conservative of hypocrisy is if they walk past a homeless person without kicking him in the face. It seems a shallow observation, but . . . . the Tory Conference are not an attractive lot,…

Wednesday, 30 January 2019 19:41

Shabbigentile

Written by Peter Raynard

in Poetry

Peter Raynard introduces Alan Morrison's new collection, Shabbigentile, available here In novels and films, plays even, there are state-of-the-nation portrayals aplenty. From Dickens to Jez Butterworth’s Jerusalem, the rich and the poor are double acts on a political stage that is the United Kingdom. In poetry? Not so much. The…

Tan Raptures

Thursday, 24 January 2019 10:18

Shayari: the progressive power of Urdu poetry

Written by Chris Norris

in Poetry

Shayari by Christopher Norris In a Delhi hockey stadium in December, about 100,000 people of various ages, genders, and classes flooded in for two days of poetry, debates, food and calligraphy sessions. It was Jashn-e-Rekhta, a three-day Urdu cultural festival, and its popularity reflects a wider appreciation for Urdu poetry.…

Portrait of Robert Burns (after Skirving)

Tuesday, 22 January 2019 20:01

Robert Burns the Democrat

Written by Norrie Paton

in Poetry

Download PDF Norrie Paton introduces this well-known pamphlet by J. R. Campbell, Robert Burns: The Democrat, which was first published in 1945, and has now been republished by the Communist Party of Britain. It is available above as a free downloadable pdf, with the permission of the CPB. I was…