Journey of Words

Tag: UK

  • In the (U)SA (vii)

    Let us not pretend That this begins and ends there Black Lives Matter here . CLP 02/06/2020 →

  • Day 6

    Sat on the front doorstep, mug of tea to hand, the cool breeze is worth enduring for the joy of sun on my face. I listen to the birds, a buzzard’s cry easily distinguished above them all. No traffic, no aircraft. All that can be heard are these birds in song. Later a dog down →

  • Lions, Lionesses and The Clown

    If this is war Why are we sending our troops into battle Without equipment? This is not Passchendaele When the blood of 275,000 Allied troops was sacrificed for nothing This is post-Brexit Britain when we have complete control So where is the PPE for our paramedics, our nurses and doctors? Boris, you are a wartime →

  • Voluntary Closures: Government Hides from Reality

    The UK government chooses weasel words to encourage changes in behaviour without showing any sign of leadership and without taking responsibility for the population. The talk of talks with businesses ignores a simple fact, businesses are legal entities, not real people. If a firm goes into shutdown because of lost trade, or because of the →

  • In Boulogne

    Did the artist understand Hands extended across the waters of La Manche Would be a friendship So easily diluted? . n.b. This piece of ironwork is a suitably trite jokey comment on the tenuous connections between England and France that stands in Boulogne-sur-mer. Boulogne was an assembly point for the invading Romans, the forces of →

  • On Watling Street (II)

    Paved ancient route Artery of trade and war Unites and divides . n.b. The Romans built on, upgraded and extended the established thoroughfare, (only known as Watling Street from medieval times, long after the Roman retreat), that conveniently led from south of the Thames, through a ford and on towards the north-west of the island →

  • Woden’s Day

    From so long ago Our days named by immigrants An island mash-up . n.b. Now, after Brexit, the bigots and racists in England find new voice. People with South-East Asian features are being abused in our streets because the Covid-19 coronavirus has developed in China. Our esteemed Prime Minister has employed an advisor who believes →

  • On Justice

    Each case different But one factor decisive Colour of the skin . n.b. Racism is alive and kicking in the UK courts. The numbers do not lie; skin colour will increase chances of going to, or escaping prison. CLP 17/01/2020 →

  • Sub-Machine Guns, South Street, Chichester

    In the season of goodwill to all it is a little disconcerting to see two police officers, each with a sub-machine gun at the ready, patrolling side-by-side on South Street, Chichester. . I was told yesterday that Sussex Police are increasing its number of armed officers. This is apparently due to the area having a →

  • Fat Blond Bloke

    A draught cloaks each step Sucks the heat from the air Light from day Magic from the stars Living in a perpetual November Each night longer than the last Dying embers of joie de vie Falling through the grate Hope extinguished By the puddle of cold sick Retched up by the Lying Liar’s lies . →