Poetry

High Speed One written on a train for National Poetry Day 2017

High Speed won, but at what cost?
Think of all the things we’ve all lost.
An hour of travelling when instead
We could all still be sleeping in bed.

As we race through beautiful countryside,
It doesn’t pass by any of our eyes
All of which are glued instead
To Facebook, emails or Netflix.

Occasionally I’ll glance up from my book
But it’s rare that I’ll give it a second look.
This landscape’s been torn in two with rails,
You can almost hear the countryside wail.

Seven grand, each of us has paid
To be stuck inside in this metal cage.
That speeds us towards jobs we hate
Where we’ll watch the clock throughout the day.

Until the time we can back
Upon the same railway track
To the place we’d rather be
For a few short hours before we sleep.

Who Am I Voting For? A poem about the election

I'm not voting for me,
I've got enough cash
But I know each of us are just a few steps away
From falling in the trash.

So I'm voting for those who have fallen
And those yet to fall.
I'm voting for my countrymen, one and all.
Not just the men but the women too,
Including all of those who have suffered abuse
And are now being asked to prove
That their child was born as a result of rape.
What are we, apes?

No, we are human beings
But we seem to forget that others have feelings.
We seem to believe they're not deserving of aid
Just because of how much they get paid.
I'm voting for those on zero hours contracts

Who never know how much they'll get in their pay check,
Living day to day, unsure if they can make the rent.

I'm voting for those in the public sector
Whose pay has been frozen for several years.
I’m voting for those who the government reduce to tears
Or even worse – those who have died
After being told they are fit for work
Or, from stress, committed suicide.

I'm voting for the overworked teachers
Who spend their own money on materials, so the kids can learn
Even though they don’t have money to burn.

I'm voting for the tired nurse
Who works extra hours at the end of her shift
And I’m voting for those who need treatment
But for months have been on the waiting list.

I'm voting for those without a home to call their own
Those who the council are unable to home
Who live on the streets or on a friend’s floor
Or told who are told to relocate to another town.

I’m voting for the student who isn’t sure
If university is something that they can afford.

I'm voting for those less fortunate than myself,
I’m voting for those who will never see wealth.
Because in the future it may be me,
And I want to live in a caring society.

I'm voting for those who feel they were lied to
By politicians of all colours, red orange or blue.

I'm voting for hope.
I'm voting for change.
I'm voting for a man who will do what he says.

Liberation written at work for National Poetry Day 2016

Inside every cell
Waiting to get out
Lies an imprisoned formula
And, by extrapolation, it’s result.

Slowly, one by one
I help to release them
Treading slowly at first
Using manual calculation.

I’m a freedom fighter
battling with Excel
It’s not a sword
but a keyboard I wield.

When every cell is reclaimed
I declare aloud
“I remember when this
was nothing but fields.”