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, 30 September 2021 08:23

Capitalism is working

Written by Mike Jenkins

in Poetry

Capitalism is working by Mike Jenkins We’re running out of petrolOn the road to oblivion. Food or heat the choiceFor many who are struggling. The sea and the riversHave become our enemies. Thatcher hacked identitiesMany years ago. Talk about North KoreaAs TV fawns over monarchy. We’re paying for vanity railwayAs…

Monday, 27 September 2021 08:27

Government declaration: A chancellor’s manifesto of honesty

Written by Sven Kretzschmar

in Poetry

Government declaration: A chancellor’s manifesto of honesty by Sven Kretzschmar Mr. Speaker, Sir! Members of Parliament –I said we can do it and I mean it: let’s wait and see. Our goodgovernment approach is we intend to promise to try our best to sit things out again, the way conservatives…

Angela Merkel

Monday, 20 September 2021 09:33

The Cry of the Poor

Written by Fran Lock

in Poetry

Culture Matters is proud to announce the publication and launch of The Cry of the Poor: An Anthology of Radical Writing About Poverty, selected and edited by Fran Lock. Featuring poetry, short stories, life-writing, essays and art by over one hundred contributors from around the world, this ambitious anthology asks…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Tuesday, 14 September 2021 09:49

Sisterhood, Socialism, and Struggle: Poetry and the Work of Solidarity

in Poetry

Written by Fran Lock

As I sit down to write this column the 40th anniversary of the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp is fast approaching, with hundreds of women planning to retrace the 130 mile march from Cardiff to Greenham in order to honour the legacy of those who founded the camp, and who…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Sunday, 12 September 2021 10:07

A Just Transition for Workers

in Poetry

Written by Mick Drury

A Just Transition for Workers by Mick Drury ‘Get a job you wankers’ shouts the irate fist passing in his 4x4.Others wave and blow their horns. Outside the petro plant for eleven hours now,it’s been cold and wet.The workers come and go,and most don't want to know. The press have…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Monday, 06 September 2021 10:12

Anthropocaust

in Poetry

Written by Rip Bulkeley

Anthropocaust by Rip Bulkeley Cassandra never smiled. Devastation,though future for others, was her constantreality. En route to the death campspeople were still together, had luggage,and could try to look forward. Even afterbeing stripped and selected, there mayhave been distractions, conversation;but oven fodder did not smile. Our delusions are the disgracefulmystery…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Monday, 06 September 2021 09:37

My body is not your soapbox

in Poetry

Written by Cheryl Vail

My body is not your soapbox by Cheryl Vail you are not the arbiter of my curve appealthe constable ticketing the lack of a gap between thighsor the angle of sharp elbows my orifices are not your sink holesyou’re not the border agent stationed at my labia you’re not the…

Sunday, 29 August 2021 21:42

The Neo-colonialist Dreams

Written by Kevin Higgins

in Poetry

The Neo-colonialist Dreams by Kevin Higgins Of moving the horn of Africa to the same time zone as Wisconsin. Of teaching Somalishow to properly appreciate cheese.Of surgeons named Nathaniel or Chadoffering the women of Kandaharthe right to choose for themselvesa different face for every occasion. The inalienable right to drive…

Afghanistan

Sunday, 15 August 2021 13:21

Black Rapunzel

Written by Jenny Mitchell

in Poetry

Black Rapunzel by Jenny Mitchell Family gathers in these plaits,each parting like a grave for people forced to work the cane, colour of my scalp,sun beating on their crowns. I’ll twist the strands into a rope, de-colonising hair, a diaspora wending back to help the ones in chains escape the…

Thursday, 05 August 2021 08:02

Take the Step

Written by Yanis Iqbal

in Poetry

Take the Step by Yanis Iqbal Tremblingly and caressingly, The sun spins a thread of morning From the depths and dregs of yesterday’s night, Aware that nothing has changed - Wan emptiness of hunger and misery continue to aboundMillstones of money keep crushing the wheat of humanity into powders of…

Thursday, 22 July 2021 08:43

Labouring the point - a colonial question

Written by Alexis Lykiard

in Poetry

Labouring the point - a colonial question by Alexis Lykiard The endless, questionable anti-Semitism fussIs media-stoked to fool the credulous and hoodwink us –All those presuming to deplore, or even criticise,The fact that stolen acres are annexed by Israel. Much of the so-called Promised Land’s a living hellFor its original…