Writing: Poetry
Mine, and occasionally others’.
Villanelle: No Autistics Here
This story is about residents objecting to a care home for autistic adults in their street. I wanted to write a poem expressing my upset that people could take a stance like this, and finally settled on a poetic form called the Villanelle: … Read more
Ode to a Second Royal Pregnancy
It is incumbent on poets to compose verse to mark royal occasions. So here is my effort concerning the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s announcement that one is expecting: Radio Four is deeply concerned The lady next door has recently … Read more
Sonnet to the Domestic Dog
Aw. Dontcha just love ’em? There is a fact scarce known in our society That of the world’s great treasury of creatures The one that manifests the most variety Of size and shape and other body features Is not a … Read more
Poetry Performance at A-Fem Fundraiser
LARC, 62 Fieldgate Street, London, E1 1ES (map). Facebook event here. Fundraising party for Afem2014. Join us for food, music, spoken word, discussion and dancing to raise funds for Afem2014. Fun feminist people of all genders and none welcome. Larc is a … Read more
Her Name Is Reeva
Her name is Reeva Reeva Steenkamp Not ‘Oscar Pistorius’ girlfriend’ Not ‘model’ Not ‘reality TV star’ Her name is Reeva Her name is Reeva She was not just a model But also a law graduate She was not just a … Read more
The Housewife’s Trial
An oldie from the 1980s, a decade of Thatcher, Reagan, crap haircuts and appallingly sexist washing powder adverts. They are not exactly bastions of feminism now, but in the 1980s we were subjected to images of women descending into hysterical … Read more
The Ballad of Gibbons Corner
Since Eighteen Ninety In all of its finery Stood Gibbons the furniture sellers London’s last such attraction With cash-only transaction Until plastic caught up with the fellas They eventually gave in To modernity’s whim With a sign saying ‘We accept … Read more
The Sun Has Got His Hat On
How is it that when the weather warms up, some men think it is ok to shout out comments about a woman’s appearance – and expect us to take it as a compliment?! The sun has got his hat on … Read more
Homeless Man Dies Frozen
In February 2013, homeless man Daniel Gauntlett died of hypothermia on the doorstep of an empty bungalow in Aylesford, Kent. Homeless man dies frozen on steps of empty bungalow Man named Daniel Gauntlett Headline of Kent local paper Just words … Read more
If It Weren’t For …
If it weren’t for hangovers, I’d get drunk every night If it weren’t for employers, employment would be alright If it weren’t for delays, the train wouldn’t be late If it weren’t for the state, the welfare state would be … Read more
If
A rewrite of Rudyard Kipling’s ‘If’: If you evade your tax when all around you Are paying theirs and saying you should too If values like integrity confound you But ruthlessness comes naturally to you If you can live off … Read more
A Sonnet to a Tory MP
A rewrite of Shakespeare’s Eighteenth Sonnet: Shall I compare thee to a winter’s day? Thou art more cold and more intemperate Tough times won’t shake the buddies of Theresa May Nor cruelty’s lease expire on short a date No time … Read more
Lost Consonant
Iain Duncan Smith, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions – and therefore chief benefit-cutter and witchhunter of disabled people and other claimants – and Conservative MP for Chingford, where his predecessor was the equally loathsome Norman Tebbit: What evil … Read more
An Ode to William Hague
An Ode to Jeremy Hunt
Away In A Palace
Written for Prince George, then still a foetus, in 2012 – to the tune of Away In A Manger: It won’t need a manger, a crib or a bed For the new royal baby to lay down its crowned head … Read more
‘British Work for British Hands’
Seeing this Conservative candiddate’s advert in a 1910 issue of the East London Advertiser, it struck me that the ‘British jobs for British workers’ slogan of a couple of years ago was neither new nor left-wing. ‘British work for British … Read more
Mood Swings
An attempt to put the ups and downs of depression into verse … Bright skies, natural highs, Summer haze, happy days, Good things … mood swings Dark cloud, not proud Guilt, shame, down again Life’s shit, deep pit Break down, … Read more
Knives. Forks. Spoons. Obviously.
Knives. Forks. Spoons. Obviously. What other arrangement could it possibly be? There’s a reason that cutlery drawers have three distinct spaces So we can place our utensils in their correct places It’s forks in the middle, knives and spoons to … Read more