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

Monday, 18 January 2021 15:59

Two poems

Written by Caroline Maldonado

in Poetry

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…

Wednesday, 13 January 2021 14:56

Blooding

Written by Rebecca Lowe

in Poetry

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…

Wednesday, 13 January 2021 12:27

Cheap flights, cheap hands, cheap lives

Written by Antoniy T. Georgiev

in Poetry

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,…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Wednesday, 06 January 2021 16:17

A Finnish Story

in Poetry

Written by Edward Mackinnon

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…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Monday, 04 January 2021 09:50

Spirograph: an interview with Pauline Sewards

in Poetry

Written by Fran Lock

Fran Lock interviews Pauline Sewards about Spirograph, her latest collection of poems FL: Hi Pauline, thanks so much for agreeing to talk to me about your latest collection of poems, Spirograph. The title poem uses the conceit of the Spirograph Set to explore those moments of 'not quite repetition' in…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Thursday, 24 December 2020 09:31

Emmanuel

in Poetry

Written by Fran Lock

Emmanuel by Fran Lock sometimes the sky fights me. sometimes the dayis a dogful of loss. sometimes the day is a desert,a prolonged and hopeless music. how the heart has timid discipline enough to make you retch,and i should gather in my wan rejoicing, stoneby stick, by feather by stone.…

Sunday, 20 December 2020 10:17

Christmas 2020. It’s all about the loved ones

Written by Annie McCrae

in Poetry

Christmas 2020. It’s all about the loved ones by Annie McCrae but what about the sick onesthe bullied onesthe just about surviving onesthe unemployed onesthe struggling onesthe can’t cope any longer ones? And what about the lonely onesthe grieving onesthe drowning onesthe exploited onesthe abused onesthe trapped can’t leave ones?…

Sunday, 20 December 2020 09:46

It’s hard to say ‘I love you’ to a Tory

Written by Louisa Campbell

in Poetry

It’s hard to say ‘I love you’ to a Tory by Louisa Campbell It’s hard to reason with people who make you so angryyou want to beat some sense into their cold, cold hearts.And why would anyone listen to someone who hates them?So, here you go: I love you, when…

Jacob ReesMogg Unicef

Friday, 04 December 2020 19:29

The Sword and the Sickle: William Blake and class struggle

Written by David Betteridge

in Poetry

To celebrate his 79th birthday, David Betteridge writes about swords, sickles and class struggle I Have a slow look at the drawing shown above. Is it not an image that captures our eye, engages our intelligence, and feeds our imagination, springing as it does from the artist’s own eye and…

Friday, 04 December 2020 14:35

Amnesia of the Asylum-seeker

Written by Leah Fleetwood

in Poetry

Amnesia of the Asylum-seeker by Leah Fleetwood Who we were back then, it’s hard to recall:lawyers, actors, fruit-sellers at a stall;street-singers, clerics, or newssheet writers?How were we seen – kowtowers or fighters?Your need to process us is fair and no surprise – to thresh the facts from what you think…