Tag: poem
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July Tries Its Luck
July wanders in with a swagger. It’s heard rumoursabout what summer should beand is determined to give it a go,even if the clouds have other plans.The mornings start bright enoughto make you hopeful,then dim just slightly,like someone turning the dialto see how much you will tolerate. The air grows thicker,not hot exactly,but warm in a…
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Foxes, Seagulls, and Other Street Prophets
I walked past the takeaway and a man was chanting at a seagull like they had unfinished business. A bus hissed, a fox trotted through the queue like it owned the franchise, and for a moment the whole street felt beautifully unhinged. I didn’t find meaning. I didn’t need to. Sometimes the world just wobbles…
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Shed a Keir
The party machine made that small, decisive click;that indicates when a part has worn down and everyone finally admits it. No drama. Just the quiet swap of one name for another waiting in the wings, already practising its posture. People nodded, half‑expecting it, half‑pretending they hadn’t been waiting. And in that unceremonious shuffle the whole…
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The Constitutional Knot
Parliament’s particularly picky politicians peddle patchy policies with performative precision, while backbenchers bicker in brisk, bitter bursts about budgets, borders, and broken‑bus‑routes. Meanwhile, ministers muddle through midnight memos and misfired mandates, making major matters mysteriously more muddled. Across the aisle, opposition orators offer oddly optimistic options, only to wobble, waver, or wildly withdraw when the…
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The Gradebook of Small Griefs
We came for chalk and the sound of a question landing,for the slow bloom of a student’s face when a hard thing suddenly makes sense.We came with lesson plans like little ships and optimism folded into our pockets,and somewhere between the photocopier and the meeting room the compass got nicked. The salary letter arrives as…
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The Sneaky-Sneak’s Sneaky-Sneak Scheme
In the halls of Holyrood, dusty and grand, Where the leaders all gather to govern the land, There was a great kerfuffle, a hullabaloo, About money that vanished; a million? Or two? “Oh, where is the cash?” cried the people, quite loud, “It was meant for the Cause! It was meant for the crowd!” But…
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Velvet Moss & Shivering Light
The stars were caught in a tangled net, Of willow bows and violet regret, When a man with a coat of velvet mossStepped over the bridge that no one would cross. He carried a lantern, hollow and wide, With a flicker of maybe trapped inside. He wasn’t searching for silver or gold, Or the stories…
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A Ban Today, a Precedent Tomorrow
They stopped Hasan Piker from entering this “United” Kingdomwith a decision already madesomewhere far from the desk in front of him. His ETA revoked,his name flagged,his presence declared“not conducive to the public good,”a phrase so vagueit can stretch to fitanyone a government finds inconvenient. No charges.No hearing.No explanation beyond implication. Just a door quietly closingon…
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June, in a Country that Doesn’t Quite Trust Summer
June arrives without asking,a pale stretch of morningthat starts before you’re ready.The light gets up early here,nosy and persistent,peering through the curtainsas if to check you’re still alive. The days go long and lanky,hours spilling everywhere,refusing to end at a sensible time.The air warms, sort of,in that half‑hearted Scottish way;soft enough for a T‑shirt,cold enough…
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The Case of the Forgetful First Minister
In a house near a hoose on a bright Glasgow day,A reporter popped up with a question to say: “Did your spouse do the thing with the funds in the can?”And she blinked and replied,“I don’t recall being married to that man.” She checked in the cupboards, she checked in her shoe,She checked in a…