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, 27 January 2021 15:54

Government press office, 26th Jan.

Written by Steve Pottinger

in Poetry

Government press office, 26th Jan. by Steve Pottinger Here’s the way to spin it, boss.Go out there, look glum,say you take responsibility.Don’t mention Dido, Dad, or Domfor God’s sake. Steer clear, too,of remembering the time you saidthat a good outcome at the end of thiswould be 20,000 dead. That’s history.…

Boris Johnson Boris Johnson's Dad Dominic Cummings Dido Harding

Sunday, 24 January 2021 12:41

School Trip

Written by Ceinwen Haydon

in Poetry

School Trip by Ceinwen Haydon, with image by Steev Burgess Mam can I go please can I go please all my friends are another note from school her heart sinks makes her thinkwhat's the point – her wee girl's face aglow with hopestill too young to know their life's constrained…

Thursday, 21 January 2021 11:23

Live from the One Planet Summit

Written by Greta Thunberg

in Poetry

LIVE from #OnePlanetSummit in Paris, 11/1/2021 by Greta Thunberg Bla bla natureBla bla importantBla bla ambitiousBla bla green investmentsBla bla great opportunityBla bla green growthBla bla net zeroBla bla step up our gameBla bla hopeBla bla bla...* *locking in decades of further destruction

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Monday, 18 January 2021 15:59

Two poems

in Poetry

Written by Caroline Maldonado

The Count by Caroline Maldonado First imagine Self in a shut room the curtainpulled tight When he comes for you again your heart like a trapped flycrashes against the panes You don’t cry Drawing the curtains open you see in every other window along the street the blinds are downHe…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Wednesday, 13 January 2021 14:56

Blooding

in Poetry

Written by Rebecca Lowe

Blooding by Rebecca Lowe 'After the first, it becomes easier,'The cold, wild-eyed stare of the deer,A crazy fish-eye lens looking backwardsthrough terror - you shiver,You are only twelve years oldand know what's coming, You've seen it before,A fistful of blood on your face,Still warm, from the dead beast,The violence of…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Wednesday, 13 January 2021 12:27

Cheap flights, cheap hands, cheap lives

in Poetry

Written by Antoniy T. Georgiev

Cheap flights, cheap hands, cheap lives by Antoniy T. Georgiev They pour into the WestCheap flights, cheap hands, cheap livesThey wear the paint of the oppressorsYet share the faith of the oppressedTheir fathers and mothers were once told They were building socialismNow they are toldTo pick asparagus and berriesSort parcels…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Monday, 11 January 2021 09:08

The Masks of Anarchy

in Poetry

Written by Barry Smith

The Masks of Anarchy by Barry Smith The song of the Thames-side boatmenAs they sail the ship of stateRings out across the choppy watersWhile the winds of pestilence blowRow, boys, row! The helmsman stands at the rudderSurveying his motley crewTousled blond hair all askewGive it all you’ve got, boysRow, boys,…

Sunday, 10 January 2021 20:48

These books have held me: outstanding poetry from 2020

Written by Fran Lock

in Poetry

Fran Lock writes about some outstanding poetry books published in 2020 It became apparent to me around the second week of December that I couldn't write this round-up in the usual way. By which I mean I could not – for a variety of reasons – simply recapitulate the tedious…

Monica's Overcoat of Flesh The Street of Algiers See What Life is Like Spirograph Almarks

Saturday, 09 January 2021 16:35

Why we talk about nothing but the weather

Written by Fred Voss

in Poetry

Why we talk about nothing but the weather by Fred Voss The welder is walking around the shop wearing a T-shirt coveredin decal-like images of red white and blue assault rifleson other days he wears a T-shirtwith National Rifle Associationplastered across itis he one of Trump’s Proud Boysdoes he have…

Saturday, 09 January 2021 09:08

Baked Alaska

Written by Alan Morrison

in Poetry

Baked Alaska by Alan Morrison Emperor Trump's mob took him at his word,Stormed the Capitol, seat of American democracy,Vandals sacking Rome, Spartans spilling into Athens,Barbarians at the gates in red baseball caps brandedWith the legend: MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!Barbarians from within, chanting empty mantrasAnd chauvinistic rhetoric - "Stop the Steal!"Amongst…

Trump Twitter Alt Right

Wednesday, 06 January 2021 16:17

A Finnish Story

Written by Edward Mackinnon

in Poetry

A Finnish Story* by Edward Mackinnon Landless, she worked on the land of a great landlord and his lady where the grass was lush and fat cows blinked at the northern lightBut she had to walk thirty miles with a fish and a pound of butter and having an honest…