Poetry Blogs (union)
Berlin Irony
9th November 2019
1961
A wall of shame
cut through a city and a people
a bleak new division:
we and the world turned away
1989
A wall fell
remade a city, a people, a history
a bright new union:
we and the world rejoiced
2019
Now we fashion
our uniquely British wall
a tragedy of repeated history:
the world wonders, shrugs
2047
A...
Tuesday 19th November 2019 9:41 am
To Remain
Look, I like having legal rights; to be a citizen not just a subject,
but I’m not without doubts about this great European project.
No, I don’t fear drowning in seas of asylum seekers some’d prefer out of my backyard
but the far right’s rise darkens my night skies and I find some truths really are quite hard.
Yes, the status quo is twisted so some not so nice people do too well off it,
b...
Wednesday 1st June 2016 11:48 pm
For Bob Crow
Poem for Bob Crow (cheers W.H. Auden)
Stop all the docks, cut off the trains,
Start the mariners striking, be still the cranes,
Silence the busses and with muffled bullhorn
Bring out the coffin, let the workers come.
Let politicians circle, moaning overhead
confessing on the airwaves, He Is RED,
Put nooses round the white necks of the bosses,
Let the riot policemen carry their own crosses.
He was...
Saturday 22nd March 2014 7:35 pm
Entropy Song
The Union man gets up to say that rights he fought for day by day
Are quickly being snatched away. Hurrah the Union man!
He’s calling out to you and me to show some solidarity
And march beside the TUC. Defend the Union man!
The low paid worker makes a plea to call upon our sympathy.
The state affords him subsidy to make a living wage.
When public jobs are privatise...
Monday 1st April 2013 4:49 pm
The Prettiest Music
The heat switches between the rooms
From the front of the house, to the back
And on the bed, your curled form is laid
I'm watching the sky as it cries in the street
Blowing my nose and counting the people
They all carry bags of food to their cars
Filled with treats and sweet desserts
All insults to the hunger pains in my chest
As I move to the kitchen, you stir for a second
This day is tu...
Tuesday 26th January 2010 11:21 am
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