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, 04 June 2020 09:54

Guard your stash

Written by Martin Rowson

in Poetry

Guard your Stash by Martin Rowson Guard your stashGuard your stashThough your mouth's a toothless gashLike the slits in all those throats which you have secretly had slashedGuard your stash Guard your stashGuard your stashThough your ponytail's panacheWas, despite a certain brashness, thrown away with last year's trashGuard your stash…

Wednesday, 03 June 2020 20:20

I can't breathe

Written by Joan Jobe Smith Voss

in Poetry

I Can’t Breathe by Joan Jobe Smith Voss I can’t breathe.The smoke from the pyre burning me alivebecause my name is Joan in Rouen chokes me.Othello smothers me with a pillow.Bill Sykes bludgeons me with his walkingstick till I fall to the floor, face down in Dickens dust.Jack the Ripper…

Wednesday, 03 June 2020 15:01

Plague Songs - It Cures What Ails Ya!

Written by Martin Rowson

in Poetry

Plague Songs - It Cures What Ails Ya! by Martin Rowson One should not mock the chronic sick,And nor should we mock DominicWhose road-based therapies recall,Damascus-bound, those of St PaulWho was, you lot should be reminded,On a road trip when unblinded.Dom need make no apology!It’s not just opthalmologyThat sees Road…

Dominic Cummings Covid19

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Monday, 01 June 2020 13:55

A review of Almarks

in Poetry

Written by Sheenagh Pugh

Sheenagh Pugh reviews a recent poetry anthology from Culture Matters Off Skyros at midnightThe heads of the little drowned childrenGently knock against the hulls of the yachts. - Stuart Hannay This is an anthology of radical poems from living poets in Shetland, which at once raises the question of “what’s…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Monday, 01 June 2020 07:56

Darkening

in Poetry

Written by Steve Pottinger

Darkening by Steve Pottinger for george under a darkening skywe sit round a log fireout there cities are burningthe planet is burning and i can’t breathe out there people are dyingin hospitals in care homesalone in bedsits with the kneeof a cop pressed into their neck and i can’t breathe…

I can't breathe George Floyd

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Sunday, 31 May 2020 17:04

breath

in Poetry

Written by Fran Lock

breath by Fran Lock, with image by Martin Gollan inside this symmetrical fiction of skins, we do not courtthe carnivore attentions of a cop with eyes like bullicanteglass. we do not wear our reservoirs. we do not bear ourfreight of names upon the face; find a dirty jest of us…

I can't breathe George Floyd

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Sunday, 31 May 2020 11:55

The Last Hurrah

in Poetry

Written by Hamish Wilson

The Last Hurrah by Hamish Wilson In thanks, we gave our NHS a clap,banged saucepans, hooted, whistled, strummed and sang,gave glad hands for heroes, joyful urban rapwith wartime spirit - UK’s Crazy Gang. Next Thursday, we give it up for silence,as other hands go on, will never stop,working to the…

Friday, 29 May 2020 13:52

The PM's Chief Adviser Addresses His Critics

Written by David Betteridge

in Poetry

The PM's Chief Adviser Addresses His Critics by David Betteridge, with image by Martin Gollan My eyes are dim, I cannot see.Come wife, come child,and drive with me! To drive at speed on public roadsmay remedy my sight.If not, and we get mangled in a crash,it proves my first assessment…

Dominic Cummings Boris Johnson

Wednesday, 27 May 2020 14:23

'Vulnerable'

Written by Fran Lock

in Poetry

"Vulnerable" by Fran Lock for Dominic Cummings In the not quite kiltered momentsjust before morning makes disorderof the rec, I grind my teeth on you.No Classic sweet alas. No hyacinthshere, private and wild. No wood. Or,only the mongrel copse completewith mottled pong of piss and dog,between the railway track and…

Dominic Cummings Barnard castle Lockdown guidelines

Tuesday, 26 May 2020 16:50

The incredible excuses of Dominic Cummings

Written by Steve Pottinger

in Poetry

The incredible excuses of Dominic Cummings by Steve Pottinger The dog ate my homework.I did not have sexual relations with that band, ABBA.The dog is called Fido, er… Tyson, er… Boris, no… Dog.Your homework is in the cat.My wife has always known me as Barnard.I do not recognise that allegation.I…

Tuesday, 26 May 2020 07:54

Cummings and Goings

Written by David Erdos

in Poetry

Cummings and Goings by David Erdos Would Hitler have dumped Eva Braun?He needed her slavish concession. The analogy in the UK is that HitlerIsn’t even the one who’s PM. No, our bloated blonde Eva backgroundsBy constructing a 3D photocopyOf presence, while his slick shadowIs sliming, and staining our day For…