The Holly King
The leaves fall in his presence
The ground hardens to ice
Shortened are the days
As long become the nights
Until the Oak King rises
When the wheel turns again
And the song of the robin
Is heard over the wren
A time to feast, to come together
To let the flames burn bright
A time to understand
Without the darkness, there’s no light
Since it turns, so he returns
When the oak leaves wilt and brown
A reminder that the holly’s with us
All the year round
A Poet’s Advice to Themself
Write poetry
The right poetry
You might argue
That you
Wright poetry
Or rite poetry
For the church or the crown
Or right poetry
That you found upside down
But don’t write
Alright poetry
Write poetry
That’s right
Michelle Mone
Michelle Mone
Doesn’t need a loan
Got two hundred mill
Sat on the MedPro throne
Now Michelle Mone’s
Cover’s blown
She lied to the press
As it’s now known
So, Michelle Mone
Will have to atone
‘Cause the PPE
Wasn’t well sewn
However, Michelle Mone
Wasn’t alone
But the WhatApp’s missing
Off Rishi’s phone
The Gospel According to Nick Ferrari
He gets up in the morning
Brushes his teeth
Puts on some coffee
And condemns Hamas
Drinks some coffee
To the background of the telly
Puts on his shoes
And condemns Hamas
He walks to the station
Picks up a paper
Takes a seat on the train
And condemns Hamas
On the front page
An Israeli sniper
Has shot two women
He condemns Hamas
Shot them in a church
The Holy Family
The Pope says he’s unhappy
He condemns Hamas
A mother and a grandmother
One carrying the other
Shop by a sniper
He condemns Hamas
Layla Moran
Some of them are family
Says it’s a tragedy
He condemns Hamas
Nahida and Samar
Mother and a grandmother
Shot by a sniper
He condemns Hamas
Nahida and Samar
Eylon Levy doesn’t buy it
The IDF deny it
He condemns Hamas
He calls the Pope a liar
Layla Moran a liar
Nahida and Samar
He condemns Hamas
Meanwhile in Bethlehem
In the Evangelical Christmas Church
Baby Jesus lies in the rubble
In the square, fareless taxi drivers
Form a miserable huddle
In the Church of the Nativity
The grotto is eerily quiet
In Giacaman’s Christmas shop
There’s stock but no one to buy it
In Manger Square, no Christmas tree
As Gaza is brutally trampled
In Bethlehem, in the West Bank
Christmas has been cancelled
The Chingford Christmas Crusade
There’s a girl on a tinsel-clad donkey
Leading the Christmas Crusade
She sits on a Santa Claus blanket
The donkey looks mighty dismayed
Behind, a man rides a camel
Which really ain’t pleased to be here
Three more dressed like comedy Arabs
They seem full of seasonal cheer
A woman in a tinsel halo
Is she Gabriel in her white sheet?
One of the comedy Arabs
Has posh running shoes on his feet
Another carries a speaker
Through which no music is played
The true meaning is holding up traffic
It’s the Chingford Christmas Parade
Rishi Sunak Gives Evidence to the Covid-19 Inquiry
“Constructive candour”, Rishi says
What on earth does he mean?
I’ll tell the whole truth, nothing but
So long as my hands are kept clean
He says he’s very sorry
For what happened to you
But as for what he’s sorry for
We’re left without a clue
Meet the new boss, backs the old boss
The pundits are surprised
That he blames all the science
“We were just badly advised”
“Constructive candour”, Rishi says
We know just what that means
Not the whole truth, nothing but
Just keeping his hands clean
Boris Johnson’s First Day of Evidence to the Covid-19 Inquiry
The dead can’t hear your apologies
The dead can’t see your sly smile
The dead can’t hear you blaming them
Like some oversized child on trail
The dead can’t see the messages
You accidentally lost
The dead can’t ask you questions
But the dead know just the cost
Of your lackadaisical attitude
Your laissez-faire approach
The meetings you weren’t bothered by
The rules with which you did not comply
The business-as-usual you deny
The herd immunity you tried to apply…
The dead can’t hear your apologies
But the survivor understands
There’s blood on your hands
PM meeting – begins to argue for letting it rip. Saying yes there will be more casualties but so be it – “they have had a good innings” – Patrick Vallance’s diary 25 October 2020
The umpire ruffles his hair, raises a finger
The elderly batsman shuffles off
Supressing a cough
Steve White & The Protest Family 