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on the street
money travels by carthrough BirminghamEngland’s bankrupt heartthe moneyheads out of citytowards Villa Park, M6Spaghetti Junctionfrom Ladywoodthrough Handsworthout of cityvia pot-holed dual carriagewaysshe knowsthe money travels by carin each one loose coins to handfor parkingor maybe tollthere’s money in carsthey have to stop at lightstwo lanes heading northseparated by a broken white lineshe holds a polystyrene →
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on light
tunnel’s end in sightfourteen years of unremitting gloombegins to liftwhile cowards flinchand traitorswho read the Daily Mail and Expressdo sneerrenewed hope is residing here. ~ n.b. Phrases like, ‘International laughing stock’, ‘a national act of self-harm’ and ‘in it together’ are about to be seen in a broader historical context. Meanwhile, the UK economy, hanging →
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on housing
and they huffedand they puffedand had fourteen years in powerbut like everything elsethey touchedit brokethere is nothing they can sayto convince usthat they deserve another chancelook!here by the rivera tentis this a tourist camping cheapor the start of an encampment?under the bridgean old battered boat is tiedwhere no mooring fees applywashing hanging on wiresthe jumble →
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Forget All That’s Gone Before
All players are gatheredFor the initial briefingInside some are cheering As others are grievingThe old king is deadLong live the kingWhen the old one is shotA new gaffer walks inDon’t imagine it is trueBecause of course it’s notThere’s no fresh startNo slates wiped cleanIts not a new dawn whenMonarchs still rule ~ n.b. NaPoWriMo 2024 →
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on Ukraine
We are too busyDrones directed from laptopsAlt+Ctrl+Delete ~ n.b. Two years into this war, which was years in the making, is a boon for the drone manufacturers in Iran, the UK and everywhere, eventually it will be about manpower that cannot be re-booted. “For now we are too busy to suffer from traumatic feelings. We →
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on love
this restaurant sat emptywith fresh roses on tablessomething not quite rightwhere are all the couples?is this indicativeof the state of the nationdivided, unhappyrecession, inflation?there’s talk of threatsan under-manned armywho will defend us when we’vebroken ships in the navy?do young couples prefer dogsat the age we had babiesis enduring teething toddlersthought worse than risk of rabies?was →
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Mr Johnson, I presume
Uhmmm. Aaargh. Well. No, no, no.Well. Aaargh. Uhmmm. But, but, but. What, what, what, what you have to un, un, understandUhmmm. Aaargh. Well. No, no, no.Well. Aaargh. Uhmmm. But, but, but.You, you, you need to appreciate the con, con, contextUhmmm. Aaargh. Well. No, no, no.Well. Aaargh. Uhmmm. But, but, but.I, I, I have given you →
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on Ukraine
tuning out the newsvillages lost or regainedwe head for the beach ~ n.b. War, long periods of boredom, broken by moments of complete terror, so something like that. I’m lucky to live in a country where a lost village means coastal erosion, no longer Viking longships full of men seeking new land to farm. CLP →
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on Ukraine
Premier League footballthe war drones on endlesslyfire in Hawaii ~ n.b. The media faces some challenges in keeping things interesting, particularly without film releases, or coronations to fill the space, so aren’t news editors lucky to have the football money machine winding up for another season. CLP 11/08/2023 →
Journey of Words 