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on Ukraine
Punch, counter-punchStab, thrust, bombAll the mothers knowLottery of life and deathHolds them at knife-pointIs this the final dice rollOr just another false dawnA fake news dayEdging then along until they hearThe boy’s key in the lockOr the postie’s fateful knock~ n.b. And so it goes on, more vicious by the day, more so by night. →
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on May
it is a long monthwe have enjoyed warmer daysbut now pray for rainto Europe’s east warWe need human resourcesnot just munitionsnowhere is safe nowKyiv is attacked day and nightonly the dead restin the Holy Landa new testament writtenin blood of childrenthe wringing of handsringing of cash registersversus body-countnow The Genocideassumes a new currencycafé talk topictelevision →
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on Ukraine
What day is it?Does it matter?It’s raining bombsWhen the children are playingWhen the churches are openIs anyone still watching?Talk is cheapLives are cheapWhen money stalksThe Land of The FreeKyiv can’t buy a break~ CLP 25/05/2025 →
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on volunteering
that is to say choosingto participate freelywithout coercionnot without food or waterwhile in mortal fearnot while being terrorisedby dronesor aircraft attacksthis ‘voluntary transfer programme for Gaza residents’is a rounding upit is a deportationwithout railwaysit is a death marchin Paris, Lyon, Avignonsome schools have plaquesnaming the childrenfrom Jewish familiestaken from their classestheir playgroundstheir friendstheir teachersby naziswill →
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on Ukraine
the killer declares “Truce”(for it is EasterOrthodox or not)while re-loading every last guna python tightens its gripat every exhalation of its prey~ CLP 22/04/2025 →
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Gernika: Wiederholungszeichen
Somewhere a Palestinian Picasso daubs a canvasOr chisels stoneNeedles coloured thread through linenScribbles out a poemScratches notes onto stavesAs fragments of shells are pickedFrom the hands and feetThe crown and sideOf the freshly crucified~n.b. NaPoWriMo 2025 combining art and music in poetry. Gernika April 1937, twinned with Gaza, April 2025. CLP 13/04/2025 →
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on Ukraine
Palm Sunday, SumyHoly Week preparationThe Devil rides in~n.b. Moscow moves from supposed ‘military operation’ to full-blown terrorism. Churchgoers and a full public bus, guilty of getting in the way of a double missile strike on an ordinary street in Sumy, this very morning. CLP 13/04/2025 →
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Mud
They found a pictureFrom before the callMe in football kitArms crossedA scowlI left that shirtSpotlessCleanAnd dryI’ll soon be backMy hollow lieI lovedMudOn my knees and handsIn earsHairWith bumpsA little bloodPromise of a scarColours wonIn sportNowI restUnder some foreign fieldMud’s filledMy throatLungsNose and eyesNaught was sportThat July dayAs my platoonReturnedTo clay~n.b. The simple detail of the →
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The Joy Has Gone / Muzak / Bones
Spare me this muzakThis rolling newsfeed24 hours – no codaOstinatoA builder’s skip fullOf disposable nappiesAt dawn, with ratsAt noon, in full sunAt dusk, with fliesThe witching hour passesMore disposable nappiesAre piled onOn the hour, every hourOstinatoHuman interest storiesWho writes this stuff?¡Ay!One could not make it upThe stench buildsOstinatoThe chorus of bluebottlesDrown the choirsOf widowedOrphaned, the →
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on Ukraine
just gone out to playHigh-precision missile strikenine children murdered~n.b. While Washington clowns around with money, Moscow targets the innocent. What’s wrong with these people. Money comes and goes, life is precious. CLP 05/04/2025 →
Journey of Words 