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

Saturday, 27 February 2021 08:31

The Apple Tree

Written by Alan Sleater

in Poetry

The Apple Tree by Alan Sleater, with image by Steev Burgess Early in Autumn, our first crop of apples,Plentiful, but small and bitter to eatEmerged from the oval-shaped posies of leaves.Our apple tree bore fruit. We marked the date. It was an old misshapen tree that lookedAs though a push…

Thursday, 25 February 2021 17:36

Ballad of the Black Domain

Written by Mike Quille

in Poetry

Ballad of the Black Domain by Alun Rees When you’re born in Merthyr Tydfilyou’re brought up in grief and rain.God himself was afraid to goalone in the Black Domain. Recession or Depression -our loss was someone’s gain.Living was lean and dying hardin the terrible Black Domain. Where body and soul…

Saturday, 20 February 2021 15:20

On Priti Patel, Practical Solidarity, Poetry and Preservation

Written by Fran Lock

in Poetry

Fran Lock attacks the Government's policies towards asylum-seekers, Travellers, and Black Lives Matter protesters, and shows how poetry can be a site of solidarity, community, and challenge. Image above: Pigeon Proletariat, by Steev Burgess I no longer hate Priti Patel. Wait, I'll unpack that statement: hate has an edge and…

Travellers BLM Dom Hale Cole Denyer

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Saturday, 20 February 2021 10:23

Pride of the Planter’s Collection

in Poetry

Written by Alan Kissane

Pride of the Planter’s Collection by Alan Kissane, with image above 'The Slave Ship' by JMW Turner Observe these old wounds, stitched together by maggots, bound with black broken bandages.See the way the light reflects the deep reds and browns, reminiscent of the sea in Turner’s painting. Touch the hard…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Monday, 15 February 2021 12:29

To William and Psychogeography In The Year The World Shrank

in Poetry

Written by Caroline Ritchie

To William by Caroline Ritchie, image above is from Jerusalem by William Blake Inventing things that don’t work is a brilliant thing, you know. – William Lyttle. Forgetting how to triangulate, or calculate, the hours of follylike a good Royal Societician,tirelessly you build (or dig)your way to a clockless kindof…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Sunday, 14 February 2021 14:30

Secular Icon

in Poetry

Written by Tom Hubbard

Secular Icon by Tom Hubbard They heard that he was ‘something in the City’And wore nice suits. The ideal son-in-law.The thought that he could lord it quite so shittyNever occurred. Just worship that firm jaw,The measured tones, the wife both rich and pretty;He makes his colleagues look and sound so…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Thursday, 11 February 2021 13:05

John Keats: Revolutionary Romantic

in Poetry

Written by Jenny Farrell

Jenny Farrell marks the 200th anniversary of Keats's death. The image above is of Keats on his deathbed, by his friend Joseph Severn G. B. Shaw stated that “Keats achieved the very curious feat of writing a poem of which it may be said that if Karl Marx can be…

Monday, 08 February 2021 09:53

CETA!

Written by Pete Mullineaux

in Poetry

CETA! The EU-Canada Free Trade Agreement by Pete Mullineaux Oh did you see, wasn’t it only gorgeous! The Government’s new baby, born out of dream wedlock, the ménage à trois – and there’s a whisperCanada had something to do with it too – oh it’s all free love now, no…

Monday, 01 February 2021 20:50

Callout: The Cry of the Poor

Written by Fran Lock

in Poetry

Fran Lock issues a callout for a new poetry anthology, The Cry of the Poor As some of you will know, Culture Matters is a co-operative of writers, artists and activists, involved in our various ways with developing a 'broad left' cultural struggle for a better society. We’ve been going…

Monday, 01 February 2021 20:44

Callout: the Bread and Roses Poetry Award 2021

Written by Mike Quille

in Poetry

Mike Quille issues a callout for this years's Bread and Roses Poetry Award Culture Matters is pleased to announce that the fifth Bread and Roses Poetry Award, kindly sponsored by Unite the Union, is now open for entries. Our mission is to promote cultural democracy in all the arts and…

Friday, 29 January 2021 09:50

The Beautiful Homes of Ealing

Written by Christian Ward

in Poetry

The Beautiful Homes of Ealing by Christian Ward Suburban houses smirked at my school uniform thinner than watered down soup;laughed at a hand-me-down blazer and shoes on the verge of springing open like a cartoon can. Peering into them, I saw familieswho never had poverty follow them like an unwanted…