Marxist. Trade Unionist. Socialist-feminist. Author. Poet. Speaker. Tutor. RMT ex-Exec. Workers' Liberty. Autie. Bi. PUFC fan.

Poetry anthologies

Top Fades and Patterns

Submitted by Janine on 27 August 2020 at 16:42

This poem was written in response to this photograph, for a collection of poems inspired by photos taken in Manchester, compiled by Flapjack Press.

 

Standing outside, he is
touting for business
Guys in the doorway
show he'll do it your way
Gradients matter
Top fades and patterns

This Place

Submitted by Janine on 26 September 2019 at 17:01

I come to see you in this place
A train, a bus, a longish walk
A mask of growth veneers your face
We picnic, catch up, laugh and talk

A train, a bus, a longish walk
They brought you here to make you well
We picnic, catch up, laugh and talk
You've questions, jokes and tales to tell

Poems for Grenfell Tower: review

Submitted by Janine on 14 June 2018 at 12:43

POETIC JUSTICE?

by Janine Booth

A wise person once said that when there is a tragedy, a lot of poetry is written. The Grenfell Tower fire is no exception, as the new anthology, 'Poems for Grenfell Tower’ illustrates.

But the Grenfell Tower fire was not just a ‘tragedy’: it was an entirely avoidable mass killing, in which people died because they were working-class, in a building that had been clad in flammable material to save money and improve the view for its rich Kensington neighbours. Many of the poems in this book reflect that truth. It is an angry book as well as a sad one.