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on Ukraine
It’s autumn againThe bombs fall faster than leavesBonfires are madeFrom high risesmarket squaresbus stopsand government buildingsFruit hangs rotten in the orchardsWheat turns black on The SteppesThe men and women are at warThis is costing billionsBut if money talksNobody is listening~ CLP 09/09/2025 →
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in Memphis (2022) / on Ukraine
We’re at a bus stopOn Elvis Presley BoulevardWe’ve been to checkThe King’s still deadAnd waiting thereIn Tennessee’s afternoon heatWe talk of EuropeWhat we’ve shared of itThe moral question?For a young Polish man from EnglandOn holiday with his fatherThere is no doubtI’d be going home to fightWith no thought of checking outHeroic resistanceRemember The AlamoThe Red →
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on Ukraine
It is like dealing with a kid”Time to stop now.”Absolutely no response”I said, that’s enough.You’ve been on that game too long.””Hang on. I’ve nearly finished this level.””No. Stop now! That’s enough.Come out of your room.You must join us at the table.””I’m really into this now.And I’m not really hungry.””It’s your favourite dish.It’s been especially prepared. →
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Tap Out
You pay to pass through the gatesTap inTap outHaving completed your routeBut Gaza’s Nasser hospitalIsn’t a scheduled stopThe missiles flew inThe walls blew outThen again into the rubbleWith rescuers attendingWas this what was intendedTap TapA ‘Double Tap’attackDead journalists, medicsDead rescuers on the sceneThe architects of this warAre beyond obscene~ n.b. Something has to change. How →
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on Ukraine
24th August, 1991Tearing a strip off the Iron CurtainThe Ukraine Soviet Socialist Republic broke awayNo one said it would be easyKyiv wasn’t built in a dayOut of the maelstromThe stirring of the potThe plot and counter-plotA nation finding its feetAfter decades of decayWith grey painted over the cracksUkraine turned toward the light pouring through the →
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on Ukraine
that closeeye-to-eyehard not to smileas hand greets handimpossible to knowhow things will golet’s be frankthe two might find common groundto tradeor they might agreeto disagreewhile Kyiv at centre stagewaits in the wings~ CLP 15/08/2025 →
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on truth
your word against minehis word against yoursgetting the last word inversusthe final words of the condemnedwhat you believeis not necessarily trueeven if it frames your worldinvented from ancient scriptsthat cannot be sustainedby a pack of lies~n.b. Shooting the messenger does not stop the word getting out. CLP 13/08/2025 →
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on Ukraine
all the neighbours knowsomething’s not rightwe suspect there’s a meetingthey’ll be talking about ushow we’re being mistreatedbut it won’t change anythingwe’ll still be getting those beatingswithout regard to our feelingslocked in our roomthat muffles our screamingbarricaded in our roomkicking and screamingalone in our roomtrying to fight off the demon~n.b. USA and Russia to meet in →
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on Ukraine
sculpt, paint, write, sing, danceart distinguishes peoplewar extinguishes~n.b. Now, more than ever, artists are needed to keep the soul alive.There was an exhibition of art from Ukraine at the Royal Academy of Art in 2024.Contemporary art from Ukraine can be bought from Art for Ukraine, a charity connecting buyers directly to artists working in Ukraine. →
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on writing
I cannot write from afarOf genocideI cannot write from homeOf starvationI cannot write from hereOf murdered children and mothersIt is happening, I hear of itNothing more can I addTo what the TV showsAll I plead is for peaceFor humanity to apply humanityto end the inhumanityNo flag, no borderCan justify this~ CLP 29/06/2025 →
Journey of Words 