The latest twist in the Poetry Society saga came when a red wheelbarrow arrived at the society's Betterton Street offices in Covent Garden containing a petition with more than 400 signatures asking for an emergency general meeting to be called. The red wheelbarrow was a reference to lines in the William Carlos Williams poem. "so much depends / upon / a red wheel / barrow / glazed with rain / water / beside the white / chickens". The Poetry Society has already called its own general meeting which is due to be held  at Lecture Theatre 1, The Royal College of Surgeons, 35-43 Lincoln's Inn Fields on 22 July at 2pm to discuss the future of the society.  However, the members are asking for any  meeting to be independently chaired and to also discuss what has gone wrong in the past. The society has seen the loss of its president, Jo Shapcott, financial officer, Paul Ranford, and its director, Judith Palmer in recent weeks. The chairman of the board, Peter Carpenter, then quit. 

One of the petition's leading signatories, Penelope Shuttle, described it as "a vital day for poets and for the rescue of the Poetry Society from its current quagmire". Poet Kate Clanchy said in an email  that the petition meant the Poetry Society "will have to hold our egm instead of or before their gm, and that we will be able to ask our burning question: what went wrong?"

Clanchy suggested that one way for those wanting to vote by proxy to find someone to vote on their behalf would be to click on the Poetry Society's Facebook page on the subject. "I think people who are going to the meeting and willing to be a proxy-holder should post their names there. Then people who are looking for a proxy-holder can get in touch with them on their page." Write Out Loud's Frances Spurrier will be attending the meeting and is willing to carry proxies.