Marxist. Trade Unionist. Socialist-feminist. Author. Poet. Speaker. Tutor. RMT ex-Exec. Workers' Liberty. Autie. Bi. PUFC fan.
Villanelles, sonnets, haiku, limericks and more ... Not all Janine's poems follow strict forms, but these ones do ...
Be streetwise, girls, be streetwise
and you won't get false-arrested
Look out for cuffs and meat knives
Be streetwise, girls, be streetwise
and memorise our treatise
on what to do when pestered
Be streetwise, girls, be streetwise
and you won't be false-arrested
- a villanelle about this.
Kids needed somewhere safe to swim
so locals raised funds for a pool,
got sponsor forms and filled them in
Again they shook donation tins
to keep aquatics at the school,
to keep the children safe to swim
after Eventide by the Faith Brothers
At the first opportunity, I dropped history -
lists of dates of kings, queens and gilded greats, handed
out from books by teachers who looked just as down
about it as we felt. It spelt boredom. But I like
it now. Dig, and history is more broad and big
than that. Now I seek out my sisters' and brothers'
stories, walk their streets and wear their clothes
- a golden shovel after 'Scarlet Ribbons', for Cush
At the peal of the bell, they don’t tell you there’s
a field that not everyone comes back from. The survivor’s been
fearing that he’ll never stop hearing the gunfire
even when the bunfight has stopped. And there’s
a sight you don’t come back from. He’s been
seeing his mate in pieces and only the drinking
At the peal of the bell, they don’t tell you there’s
a field that not everyone comes back from. The survivor’s been
fearing that he’ll never stop hearing the gunfire
even when the bunfight has stopped. And there’s
a sight you don’t come back from. He’s been
seeing his mate in pieces and only the drinking
Day 1 confined to room - no going out
Day 2 do push-ups, Netflix, clean the floor
Day 3 phone friends and scrub the tiling grout
Day 4 a breakfast bag outside the door
Day 5 phone friends and tell them how I'm feeling
Day 6 lean out the window for some air
Day 7 sit-ups, Netflix, clean the ceiling
Day 8 phone friends to tell them I still care
Just a dusting's not enough
There's barely ample white to fight
It's floating free like frozen fluff
Just a dusting's not enough
No handful for a snowball - tough!
This winter's snowfall's far too light
Just a dusting not enough
There's barely ample white to fight
After Earth Beat by Paul Weller
Her banner has a planet on, she’s
carrying resistance and insisting that the
government takes action for a new
start for a cleaner, greener future from today.