The 1st stanza asks a question to which the answer is, of course, “No”. John Milton wrote Areopagitica, an argument against censorship.

Sadly, in the Britain of 2025, poets, artists, journalists, religious leaders and The Man on the Clapham Omnibus now face routine harrassment by the UK Government and the police, enduring arrest and imprisonment without charge or trial: and for what? for oppos...

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Every post a sermon, every joke a trial. Laughter is a landmine now— step wrong and you're vile. Eyes scan feeds like scripture, policing tone and word, where irony gets cancelled before it can be heard. They brandish rules like weapons, etched in trending tags, turning nuance into weakness, and context into flags. The crowd won’t storm the palaces, real power lies ignored. T...

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They dragged him from his rightful place, With chains of lies, they bind his grace. A mayor strong, a people's voice, Now silenced by a tyrant's choice. His crime? To win where one might fail, To show that change could still prevail. But truth is crushed beneath the weight Of he who rules with fear and hate. The streets are filled with muffled cries, Yet protests fall where...

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O Trump Derangement, thy name we scorn, A sickness wrought to silence minds, A label placed to quell the born Of thought, whose roots may tear the binds. In wisdom's place, thou offer none— No cure, no hope, no space for air… For every voice who dares to run Against thy crown, thy law, thy glare. How sweet the word "insane" you say— A balm for wounds, a mask for fear. But none shal...

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In defiance of the forces that manipulate and suppress, this poem calls for an "uprising" to defend truth and our freedom of speech, against the forces of censorship, fake news and misinformation led by Musk, Trump and his rebellious, subversive henchmen. Musk’s efforts to restrict or abolish "Community Notes" threaten the very foundation of truth and free expression on his platform  threat...

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This poem tries to explore the personal and societal consequences of living under a prospecitve dictatorship, where the truth is silenced, and freedom of the press is crushed. Through the fate of figures like Jim Acosta, the poem reflects on the heavy price of speaking out against tyranny and the loss of voice in a world where obedience reigns. A stark warning of what happens when dissent is erase...

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"The Fact-Check Paradox" explores the contradiction at the heart of modern fact-checking: while meant to clarify truth, fact-checkers often impose their own interpretations, leaving people uncertain about what’s verified and what isn’t. This creates a paradox where the pursuit of truth may, in fact, cloud independent judgment. The poem tries to emphasise the need for individuals to think for thems...

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The kowtowing of billionaires like Zuckerberg, Bezos, Altman, Soon-Shiong and even Mickey Mouse to Donald Trump is a chilling indictment of power’s moral decay. Ann Telnaes, a Pulitzer-winning cartoonist, dared to expose this disgraceful subservience in an unpublished cartoon for The Washington Post, only to see her work silenced by the very institution meant to champion free expression—owned by J...

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It’s quite the fashion now to bash

Those journalists who seek the truth;

As years flow by, more are cut down,

Or languish, silenced, in their youth.

 

As humans they are fallible

And are rebuked for their mistakes,

But hard men seek to shut them up

When they play for the highest stakes,

 

And can’t afford to be faced with

Exposure through detailed research,

To ...

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In a world where words are measured, thoughts confined,

Where humour dares not tread on toes aligned,

We walk on eggshells, fearful, self-contained,

As though our speech itself was preordained.

 

Gone are the days when satire cut like steel,

When jest could probe and challenge what we feel.

Now cancel culture prowls with sharpened teeth,

Condemning those who wander far bene...

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If I knew your poetry would suddenly 
disappear, 
I would have memorized 
every poem,
to comfort me
when I feel alone. 
Your words help heal 
my savaged soul.
I'm sad you had to go.

# # #

https://youtu.be/OeP4FFr88SQ

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Everything watered down as to not offend
There's no relationship you need to mend
WHen you've got the tv as a friend
Taking comfort in Big Brother once again
Your day feels like the one before
Sick of all your slavery chores
Throw everything down on the floor
To find out celebrity whispers behind closed doors
The A to Z of who's banging who
The story of the latest murder on the news
A zi...

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True to
The saying
“The pen is mightier
Than the sword”
To your enemies
Deep-cutting and
Mask-divesting
Were every  of
Your  acerbic satire, also
Bitter-truth packed word.
“To ignore
His pen we ill afford
Nor could we
Fight him back
Word for word.
So covertly
Let us
Strike him  down
With a sword
About his whereabouts
Effacing a word!” they said
Forgetting
As a writer Baalu
W...

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Given what's happening in America right now, I suspect it won't be long before the First Amendment begins fighting for its life.

With that in mind, I thought I'd share my most successful poem to date, though it's hardly a poem at all.

It is based on my experience of living in South Africa during Apartheid.

 

In The Tradition Of The Star

 

This poem is censored.

I cannot mentio...

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Listen not unto the lie that stings the lips.
Witness not the act that stays a pitied mind.
Speak not of the hatred that will crack the whips.
Let not those insidious be here enshrined.

Trample not upon the freedoms of your kin.
Take not which was never here for you to own.
Read not of the bitterness that splits the skin.
Write not of the malice that shatters the bone.

Reason with the ...

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