The News In Poetry Day 33: Mortae Lampada (apologies to Sir Henry Newbolt)

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/education-22126301

There’s a breathless hush in the morning air
We’re one goal down and in extra time.
The other team are not playing fair
And we’ve churned the pitch into freezing slime.
And it’s not for the honour of doing it right
Or a worthy opponent’s friendly grin:
The first lesson learned in a lifelong fight.
“Whether fair or foul, always play to win.”

The final demands are printed red
And dole queue grows each week in size
As the rich get richer, the poor get dead
And the people blinded by smoke and lies.
Though toxic greed has destroyed the banks
Still we blame the poor for the state we’re in.
And that voice still echoes throughout our ranks:
“Whether fair or foul, always play to win.”

These are the words that, year by year
Will infect each child not poisoned yet
As we fill each blossoming mind with fear
So the price of losing they won’t forget.
This they all with a sinking heart
Will internalize: our society’s sin
“You are on your own from the very start
Whether fair or foul, always play to win”

Read the original here: http://www.firstworldwar.com/poetsandprose/newbolt.htm

The News In Poetry Day 32: Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/9993264/Black-workers-banned-from-Gare-du-Nord-during-Israeli-president-visit.html

If they’re black
They might be Muslim
If they’re Muslim
They hate Jews
If they hate
Then they are violent
And we’ve got
A lot to lose.
If they’re white
Then they are peaceful
If they’re peaceful
They can stay
Though we cannot
Condone violence
Segregation
Seems OK.

The News In Poetry Day 31: Japan

http://news.sky.com/story/1077637/north-korea-missile-alert-after-japan-blunder

Admire our efficiency!
Our effortless style,
And quirky take on the world.
We make you laugh. Watch
Nyan Cat run! Watch Maru play!
Don’t think about it:
Don’t mention Hiroshima.

We are terrified:
We’ve been here before
But we wear our brittle smiles.
And, trembling at our keyboards
Our prepared statements
Are blurted out too early
As the façade cracks
And the naked terror shows:

The bombs are coming.

The News In Poetry Day 30: Hidden Curriculum

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/education-22123131

Oh, science is awesome – there’s so much to learn!
Just look at the colours when chemicals burn!
Then try this experiment; watch the effects:
Ask all of your teachers to talk about sex.

“Our bodies are wonderful: look what they do!
For all of those systems are what make up you!”
On breathing and eating, your class is instructive
But rather more quiet on things reproductive.

Oh, science is perfect for finding things out,
And in this curriculum, there is no doubt
That we’ve got another, more sinister aim:
The lesson we’re teaching our children is shame.

The News In Poetry Day 29: Care

A poem based in a news story which reminded me of my stint doing one of the most disregarded, under valued, under regulated and essentially wonderful jobs I’ve ever done.
http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22097929

If you stop treating a person
Like a person
They stop feeling
Like a person

They start to deteriorate
They talk less
They stop engaging with those around them.

They can’t seem to make the effort anymore.

When you stop treating a person
Like a person
You’ll hardly ever see them smile
And it becomes easy to forget

About their strengths
Their skills
Their joy in what they do.

When you stop treating a person
Like a person
Their value starts to mean
How much money you can make from them.

When you stop treating a person
Like a person

They forget to be a person.

And how can a person
Who’s forgotten to be a person
Care for your parents?

The News In Poetry Day 27: Wakefield Lullabye

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-22069552

Hush now, my little one
Sleep now, my little one
Mummy will keep you from harm

Dream now, my little one
Sweetly, my little one
Somebody’s raised the alarm.

The frightening notions
Of vaccines and potions
That change who you’ll grow up to be

You don’t need to fear
Oh my baby, my dear
I’ll always protect you, you see

Don’t cry my little one
Don’t die, my little one
Shaking and pale in your bed

Mummy is there for you
Mummy will care for you
Stroking your hot little head.

Mummy believed them
But she was deceived when
They they told her that vaccine was bad.

Hush now my little one
Sleep now my little one
Now that we know we’ve been had.

The News In Poetry Day 26: Maggie’s Requiem

http://m.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/apr/08/margaret-thatcher-death-etiquette

How dare you tell us not to celebrate?
How dare you call it inappropriate?

“Don’t speak ill of the dead,”
Is so easily said
If you’ve been led to expect
That corpses command
Automatic respect.
But we remember:

We remember Section 28
(Do you know what it was like
To be called “faggot” or “dyke”
At school? To be under attack
And aware of a lack
Of any adults who’d have your back?
Because she
Forbade the promotion of homosexuality,
Called your two mums or two dads a pretend family?
How dare you defend this legacy?)

And we remember how she stirred up hate
(Do you think the Falklands war
Was about liberty and justice for all?
Or was it about empire and elections?
Joining in with the boys and their big steel erections.
Going into that war was a choice
And when soldiers died, some only boys
Maggie cried out “Rejoice”.
How dare you deny us our voice?)

Remember miners standing at the gates
(I’m northern born and old enough to know
What was lost.
Drive through Derbyshire today
And see mining equipment
Half buried in wet clay
Planted with struggling seedlings:
A dying community in a shallow grave
Too near the surface for the pain to ever really go away
She closed down the mines, we had to pay
You’ll deny us our closure, our say?)

It’s not schadenfreude.
We’re the society she denied.
We are the soldiers who died
We are the miners, the unions,
The three million unemployed.

This isn’t a party
It isn’t a wake.
It isn’t a fresh new page.
We’re not smiling
We’re gritting our teeth.

This is rage.

The News In Poetry Day 25: Experimenting With Drugs

I have the greatest respect for Professor David Nutt.
It’s tough being an expert in a field in which there are a lot of preconceived “right” and “wrong” answers.
I do wonder what the legislators think is going on in his lab, though.

http://news.sky.com/story/1074892/magic-mushroom-depression-trials-stalled

I have reason to believe
That the chemical psicobilin
Commonly found in
So called ‘magic mushrooms’
May have applications
In combatting
Medication-resistant
Depression.

I mean
I’m happy,
The mushrooms are happy,
Mister Test Tube is very very happy…

I have reason to believe
That the beautiful sight of rainbows
Commonly found in
Souls of magic unicorns
May have applications
In cuddling
Everyone resistant
To heaven.

The News In Poetry Day 24: Work: Fair?

http://m.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/apr/06/homebase-criticised-work-experience-claims

Please let me work for you
I will not ask for pay
I only need “experience”
To live from day to day.

Please let me prove my worth
You know I’ll do my best
Although I’m tired and hungry I
Will work without a rest.

Please offer me a job
When I have worked for free
You need not pay a living wage
Not to the likes of me!

Please save your hard earned cash
Don’t waste it on your staff
The taxpayers will take the strain
You’ve really got to laugh!

Please, Homebase, and your ilk
Don’t treat us like we’re dumb
The Tories blame the unemployed,
But we know who’s the scum.