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

Wednesday, 07 March 2018 11:21

Gibraltar, March 1988

Written by Jenny Farrell

in Poetry

30 years ago at approx 3.30pm Mairéad Farrell was murdered by the British state on Gibraltar. Standing by her side, also with his hands in the air, was Dan McCann who was also shot dead. A few hundred metres away Sean Savage was to have a similar fate. At the…

IWD IRA

Tuesday, 06 March 2018 22:45

We'll show you you're a woman

Written by Sheree Mack

in Poetry

To mark IWD, we're publishing this poem from a new collection by Sheree Mack called skinshame, to be published shortly by Culture Matters.‘We’ll show you you’re a woman’ was the title of a report compiled by Human Rights Watch into the violence and discrimination experienced by black lesbians and transgender…

Tuesday, 06 March 2018 22:03

An Unfortunate Case

Written by Chris Norris

in Poetry

An Unfortunate Case by Chris Norris Portugal’s president has described the circumstances in which a homeless Portuguese man died near the UK parliament as ‘inhumane’. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa paid tribute to the unnamed man found dead in an underpass near Westminster tube station, a stone’s throw from an entrance to…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Monday, 05 March 2018 22:36

A witness to ruthless oppression: Maxim Gorky

in Poetry

Written by Jenny Farrell

Jenny Farrell introduces the life and poetry of Maxim Gorky, who was born 150 years ago, and presents his poem Storm Petrel, prophesying revolution. Alexei Maximovich Peshkov, or Maxim Gorky, was born 28 March 1868 in Nizhny Novgorod (named Gorky,1932-1990), and died 14 June 1936. He was a Russian and…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Friday, 02 March 2018 14:07

the employed poor

in Poetry

Written by Martin Hayes

the employed poor by Martin Hayes they have a car a job with no contract they work for a company that hasa zero-tolerance policy on sick days and non-attendance they have aflat with heating and food they have a bottle of wine of a night they cook a pasta dinner…

precariat poverty working poor immiseration

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Saturday, 24 February 2018 18:28

What Did The Politician Get His Wife?

in Poetry

Written by Kevin Higgins

What Did The Politician Get His Wife?after Bertolt Brecht by Kevin Higgins And what did she get, the girlfriend,from the student union meetingat which he rose to his feetand realised he could speak? From that meeting she gotthe Snickers bar he forgot to eatso busy was he watching them listen;and…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Tuesday, 17 April 2018 11:47

The Communist Manifesto: A Poetic Coupling

in Poetry

Written by Peter Raynard

To mark the 170th anniversary of the publication of The Communist Manifesto, Peter Raynard presents his new poem, a 'poetic coupling' based on the text of the Manifesto. Counting in at around 12,000 words, has there ever been a more influential book containing so few words, than the Communist Manifesto?…

Karl Marx

Tuesday, 20 February 2018 22:05

The Communist Manifesto: A Poetic Coupling

Written by Peter Raynard

in Poetry

Karl Marx

Monday, 19 February 2018 20:08

Grenfell Tower, 2018

Written by Rip Bulkeley

in Poetry

Since July 2017 Rip Bulkeley has been creating an anthology "Poems for Grenfell Tower", which will be published by The Onslaught Press at Easter. Poems were invited in any language and up to 50 lines long, and then selected blind by a small review panel. The resulting collection includes 62…

Tuesday, 17 April 2018 11:52

In Praise of Communism

Written by Jenny Farrell

in Poetry

The outstanding German communist playwright and poet Bertolt Brecht was born on 10 February 1898, 120 years ago. To celebrate the anniversary, Jenny Farrell has sent us one of his poems, which was translated by her father, Jack Mitchell. The image is by Mark Titchner, an artist who lives and…