Poetry

This poem was written in response to this photograph, for a collection of poems inspired by photos taken in Manchester, compiled by Flapjack Press.

Standing outside, he is
touting for business
Guys in the doorway
show he'll do it your way
Gradients matter
Top fades and patterns

Let's keep this briefing brief

We don't want the grief

I'll shuffle my sheaf

Turn over a leaf

and pass that question to the medical chief

To see the roots of poverty

the plight of the have-nots

Don't look at little dinghies

but at massive super-yachts

First came the plume from hangar twelve
Cellphone cameras swung around
and pointed to preserve, for fear
that even worse might happen here

Next there came the second blast
Flattened buildings, shattered glass
raining pain on those not dead already

Why should I give the time of day

to folk who take their ball away

Especially if that taken ball

is punctured, flat and very small?

Charlie Elphicke:
a gift to the comic
Fancy the fun for
the writer of ribald rhyme

Lampooning his lechery
and wittily wagging his words
Absolutely absurd!

But no laughter lines from me
Sexual assault is serious,
is virulent, has victims.

Sordid story:
Naughty Tory.

Why can't dogs be more like cats?
Scare off mice and drive out rats
Don't sniff bums when folk come round
Make that lovely purring sound
Don't break your stuff or chew your shoe
Dig a proper hole to poo
Or maybe use a litter tray
Cope alone for several days
Don't flood the floor each time they drink
Clean themselves so they don't stink
Wipe their paws on welcome mats

One last time before we split
let's go and sit
in the grassy bit
in the churchyard astride the log
throw sticks for the dog
and look at the playground
and the place where the nursery stood
Before we're gone for good

Janine's video contribution to We Shall Overcome's Isolation Festival, held online on 11 April 2020, featuring the poems:

• Disaffected Middle-Aged Women
• Clap for Carers
• Wherefore Art Thou, Capitalism?
• Unskilled
• Thoughts and Prayers

PJ aka the Repeat Beat Poet, is a hip hop and spoken word artist, and an activist. He spoke to Janine Booth, a trade unionist, Workers' Liberty activist, and poet about George Floyd Protest, police, fighting racism, and more.