Disaffected youth have long been the folk devils of society: feral, angry and disobedient; and simultaneously neglected, mistreated and alienated. The conservative establishment fears their rebelliousness crashing into its comfortable political world.
But is there another demographic which that same establishment would be well-advised to fear? Enter the Disaffected Middle-aged Women. Underpaid, pushed around, stressed out – and fighting back!
Janine Booth’s new collection brings together forty-something poems from the midst of maturity. They tell life stories and cautionary tales. They invite you to look at well-known stories from a different point of view. They watch television, stroll along the river, listen to music, work night shifts and ponder life’s scars. They take on issues including climate change, overbearing advertising, terror attacks, violence against women, the Grenfell Tower fire and the rise of the right.
Many of these poems rhyme, some don’t. Some are formal – including a sonnet, a villanelle and a sestina – but most have a rhythm and style of their own.
Janine Booth writes to amuse, to provoke thought, and to cheer on important struggles. Now, with the Disaffected Middle-aged Women, she is raising an army – and entertaining the troops.
Contents
- Disaffected Middle-aged Women
- A Sonnet for Saga
- The Girl With the Briefcase
- Somebody’s Mum
- Daisy
- Sophie’s Dad, Kevin
- Product Displacement
- The Coral’s Grief
- Hill Fifty
- File Under Self-Harm
- Settling Accounts
- How to Cover Up the Evidence
- The Subaltern’s Swansong
- The Girl from Clapham
- Janie’s Drones
- Bessie Gilmore’s Eyes
- Harvey is a Sex Addict
- Bystander
- Railway Woman
- Night Tube
- My Love’s Love
- The Car Lady of Prebend Gardens
- Hettie Gets OutWhen Will the Revolution Come?
- Get a Grip
- BoJo Logic
- Warming His Coals
- How Leonard Learned
- Because
- Off Your Knees
- Don’t You Want Me, Henry?
- GlastonTory
- Vox Pop
- Hope is Safe
- Healing
- Telling Time
- Disinfected Middle-aged Women
- Thick Racists
- Hallelujah President Trump
- Babyface
- Kids in Crates
- Another Country
- Bring It Home
- DMWs Driving History