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, 01 January 2018 19:36

Our common humanity: Robert Burns and For A' That

Written by Jenny Farrell

in Poetry

Jenny Farrell discusses the focus on our common humanity in Robert Burns's For A' That, and the way it foretells the 'programme which will govern the world of liberated humanity'. Every so often, history presents us with an amazing affirmation of our common humanity, a sense of continuity, the passing…

Robert Burns Karl Marx Karl Liebknecht rosa luxemburg Ayrshire

Thursday, 30 November 2017 16:25

Patrick Kavanagh

Written by Jenny Farrell

in Poetry

On the 50th anniversary of Patrick Kavanagh's death, Jenny Farrell draws out some of the political meanings of Patrick Kavanagh's poem Epic. The Irish poet Patrick Kavanagh (21 October 1904 – 30 November 1967), who died fifty years ago, is not as well known internationally as he should be. He…

Friday, 17 November 2017 11:32

universal credit

Written by Fran Lock

in Poetry

universal credit by Fran Lock statues wake, and yawning, scrapethe birdshit from their tongues. londondrags a dirty nail across her fibroid lungs. the hoodies and the halfwits are disportingon the green. their smiles are shallow gasheslike the slots of fruit machines. the silent politicians brush their dandrufffrom their suits. rehearsing…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Friday, 17 November 2017 10:10

A Double Act

in Poetry

Written by S O Fasrus

A Double Act by S. O. Fasrus 'But what I learned later in life, too late, is that when you have power over another person, asking them to look at your dick isn’t a question. It’s a predicament for them - Louis C K It's fifteen years laterwe're rueing the…

Louis C K Me too

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Wednesday, 11 October 2017 15:27

Muses and Bruises

in Poetry

Written by Fran Lock

Culture Matters has published a brilliant new collection of poetry called Muses and Bruises by Fran Lock, an activist, writer and illustrator, and one of the finest political poets writing in Britain today. Her feminist and socialist poetry weaves psychological insight and social awareness into themes of poverty, mental health…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Wednesday, 27 September 2017 20:25

National Poetry Day: Vignettes of Working Class Exhaustion

in Poetry

Written by Fran Lock

Vignettes of Working Class Exhaustion by Fran Lock Malkin Sacred, not wise, the black cat's acidcasualty stare, traversing a crumblingcul-de-sac, under a starlessly inkjet sky.We cross each other's path, and sheleans into my unluck, a clot of deeperdark, unstuck from the rest of the night.Then she is gone, the quick…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Tuesday, 12 September 2017 15:49

Plagiarism and the Privatisation of Poetry

in Poetry

Written by Andy Croft

The Guardian recently ran an article on plagiarism in poetry by Will Storr. Andy Croft, author of two very widely read and influential articles on Culture Matters, The Privatisation of Poetry and Poetry Belongs to Everyone, was interviewed at what was called 'an anarchist bookfair' (actually London's Radical Bookfair). It is very tempting to reduce these issues to…

plagiarism in poetry the guardian Ira Lightman Andy Croft communism

Saturday, 02 September 2017 12:55

The Trouble with Monsters

Written by Chris Norris

in Poetry

The Trouble with Monsters by Chris Norris Quick way with monsters: send a hero outFor mortal combat: sometimes he'll prevailAnd kill the beast, while other times he'll failAnd it will be his death that ends the bout. The point is, those old poets had it right,Those Greeks, and Romans, and…

Beowulf Grendel Hitler Trump

Wednesday, 26 July 2017 06:00

More than ‘Rise like lions’: Shelley beyond The Mask of Anarchy

Written by Mike Sanders

in Poetry

Mike Sanders writes about Shelley 'the Chartist poet' as a catalyst for working class creativity, how he envisioned a communist society, and how the privileged classes refused to hear the revolutionary meanings of his poems. One of the unexpected features of the recent General Election campaign was the ‘co-opting’ of…

shelley jeremy corbyn Peterloo

Sunday, 25 June 2017 21:18

A worker reads and asks questions

Written by Jenny Farrell

in Poetry

The recent election results showed a stunning level of support for Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party’s anti-austerity policies. Working people are clearly starting to ask more questions about who exactly produces the wealth in class-divided societies, including our own. Jenny Farrell’s father made this brilliant translation of one of…

Thursday, 08 June 2017 13:56

Staring Back

Written by Manash Firaq Bhattacharjee

in Poetry

Staring Back by Manash Firaq Bhattarcharjee The eye you see is notan eye because you see it;it is an eye because it sees you.~ Antonio Machado, ‘Proverbs and Songs’ You stare at her body. You don’t seeHer eyes seeing you. Her body is a blind mannequinOf desire. When she moves,…