Price of Democracy - Diane Scantlebury

The vocal majority angry and aggrieved,
Voted with their feet
And wanted to leave,
Tired of the ‘haves’ patronisation and hypocrisy,
They took back the power
This was the price of democracy,

Persuaded by tactics
Of the lowest denomination,
Fear and xenophobia
Divided a nation,
Promises made, promises broken,
Fragmented Britain
The people have spoken!

Diane Scantlebury

House Of Cards - Richard Fleming

A house of cards is bound to fall:
it’s insubstantial after all,
and so it shall

The UK card’s the first to go:
that will disturb the status quo.
It must be so.

Merkel and Germany are vexed.
The Undecideds are perplexed.
Will France go next?

Richard Fleming

Stillness - Julian Clarke

Why chase the stillness
when the feral mind runs wild;
inhale, accept, exhale, be free
body still, body quiet:

take these precious moments
for they're yours
for you alone,
relax in the stillness of being.

Julian Clarke

The Wailing Boat - Tony Bradley

Wail on, sail on, you prophets of doom
all you can see is despair and gloom
why not build another Ark, with plank and tar
In your whirlpool of ignorance, you won't go far.

Yes, we devour Earth's resources, as soon as we find them
we crash, and trash, and make a mess
but all the while, the boffins are working
rest assured our offspring will progress.

Complete myth, that it's just modern man
who's abused the earth, and made it bleed
we've been spoiling things, since we came out the trees
our two main instincts, survival, and greed.

Yes, we wastefully devour Earth's resources
we crash and trash, and make a mess
but all the while, the boffins are working
so, rest assured our offspring will progress.

Tony Bradley

Binner - Kathy Figueroa

Cans, a modern treasure
Just waiting to be mined
A little bit of digging
Could result in a rich find

Hands, gloved and deft
Pick through refuse, rank and ragged
Which is fraught with dangerous stuff
Like broken glass with edges jagged

“Binning” is what it’s called when
Someone mines dumpsters full of trash
And takes the salvage to scrap dealers
Who then turn it into cash

It’s not for the faint of heart
Or those who, from grunge, recoil
Though a grimy line of work
It seems a useful form of toil

For the metal is recycled which
Conserves our natural resources
This planet’s health can be protected
When recyclers arise and join forces

Every little bit helps
There’s a cumulative effect
And so, to the humble Binner
Ths poem is dedicated, with respect

Kathy Figueroa

The Mask - Kate Gallienne

Have we met? For I think I know you. A familiar face that I recall
I know that smile and those big brown eyes. I’m sure you help me when down I fall
Why then do you appear distant? With a smile painted thick like a clown
Your eyes are open but do not see me, always flitting or looking down

I cannot ask you how you feel, as I fear I don’t have the time
If you started to express what’s real, what’s buried deep in your mind
Your protective mask keeps you safe inside, never showing the naked truth
Afraid to look behind those eyes, preferring to believe than seek for proof

Looking deeper though and closer still, the reflection doesn’t lie
For it is not you, it is actually me, through the mirror I watch myself cry
To the outside world I am someone else, somebody I’m really not
Portraying to others that all is fine, when inside fear is all that I’ve got

If I wear a smile others smile back, confirming all is well
If I look down or ill at ease, my true feelings they would tell
I cannot bear their sympathy, or their saddened sorrowful eyes
For they reflect the truth to me, that something is wrong deep inside

If this happens my tears won't stop. I’d be crying the whole year through
For there’s no release and no let up, never knowing what to do
So I apply the makeup day upon day, hiding the lines on my face
Hoping no one can see the real me, for like me, they’d see a disgrace.

Kate Gallienne

Lazy Day - Tony Gardner

I'm sitting in a soft chair out the back
The sun is shining down and wind is slack
My dog is on my lap and she's OK
It's such a lovely tender kind of day
A blackbird singing in the tree
Lifts the spiritual in me
It's work today but I don't care
Just gonna sit here in my chair

Tony Gardner

I'm So Poor I Can't Even Pay Attention Anymore - Lyndon Queripel


It seems to slip right through my hand
Just like grains of sand
It burns a hole in my pocket
Unless I get a safe and lock it
Money

I am up to my eyes in debt
It's going to get deeper yet
Penny wise pound foolish they say
Not until the last bill you pay
Money

It always seems so strange
How I manage to lose change
It won't buy you happiness it's true
But it makes misery easier to go through
Money

It's invested in stocks and shares
Some say it talks others say it swears
Some say it makes the World go around
That's why they bury it under the ground
Money

New paper to print new coins to mint
New prices always leave me skint
The technology is so fantastic
Now it's even made of plastic
Money

Man cannot live on bread alone
That's why the banks have all over grown
If you pay the piper you call the tune
Will the one World currency be here soon
Money

You can be rich,you can be poor
For sure you're going to want more
But when you love it more than people
Then you'll find it's the root of all evil
Money

Lyndon Queripel

Electoral Dysfunction - Donald Keyman

The sour grapes of frustrated wrath
Have been trodden into the electoral path
By six aggrieved and trembling males
As power emerges from beneath the veil

It seems that they all fear the coming
Of a world that's ruled by women
Though surely it would be a gentler place
If we were governed by a softer face

The "Sour Six" have alleged there's cheating
Because the evil women had a meeting
The sore losers revealed their single fear:
The spectre of a Deputy Boadicea!

So worried that a modern day Joan of Arc
Could reintroduce pay to park
They made their complaint to the Registrar
Who ruled in favour of the bra

Even now the verdict is not sinking in
They've got a problem with "Women2Win"
Maintaining still that Betty or Maud
Has perpetrated electoral fraud

As this story shows no sign of ending
I'm simply and firmly recommending
That the unenlightened "Sour Six"
Seek out the services of a dominatrix!

Donald Keyman

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