Mowing the Lawn with Larkin
They laughingly know it as: “Mowing the Lawn”,
that callously racist colonial project,
in the name of the land in which I was born,
British values, you call them? well I’ve pressed “reject”!
for too long, being murdered and beaten, Palestinians
now rise to proclaim: “No More of the Nakba”,
so, shame on your silence, their freedom’s my freedom,
it’s my fight ‘til I’m called to ...
Tuesday 10th December 2024 7:43 pm
The War on the West
I’m your smooth - talking
free speech warrior,
I like posing in military gear
in helmets and flack-jackets
that say PRESS,
(not that I’d need one)
‘cos these are my mates,
yes, I’m here in the Middle East
‘cos I am defending THE WEST,
in the war THEY’ve declared,
‘cos they’re jealous we’re the best,
well, that’s what I’ve heard!
know - what - I – mean?
nudge ...
Friday 6th December 2024 11:47 am
The Word Made Flesh
*
see!
poet,
listen, look!
now here she is,
dispelling the gloom,
love the magician’s spells
make those angel voices heard.
the word made flesh, amongst us dwells,
love conquers all, she’s claimed the last word.
*
*
*
*
Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh, 2nd December, 2024.
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////...
Monday 2nd December 2024 10:21 am
A Boat! A Boat!
Small boats! small boats!
my power’s in small boats!
for goodness’ sake,
don’t stop the boats,
small boats are all
that I have left,
for hate we trawl
with those small boats,
don’t stop the boats!
the power of hate
must keep our cause
afloat!
Sunday 1st December 2024 10:14 am
Arabesques
performing exquisite arabesques,
adorably, beautifully,
her arms and hands form a curve,
she steps right, then steps left,
legs flexed, she’s en pointe,
soars up on high,
et voilà!
my heart’s
hers.
Friday 29th November 2024 2:11 pm
Imagine…!
My friend and I have just been reduced to tears by this scene in a video.
A charming girl of three years old,
makes a beautiful request,
a scene of wonder then unfolds,
in which the world by her’s then blessed,
‘please can you play Imagine’;
how like a nightingale she sings
with words of charity, compassion,
hope to a suffering world she brings.
The world and I beh...
Wednesday 27th November 2024 2:38 pm
Song of the Earth
My spirit’s faint, of joy and beauty starved,
Of late, this grieving heart has known but gloom,
So, prayers I’ll say on ancient Anglezarke,
And dance with Gaia, to a brighter tune,
Where soars my soul, between earth sea and sky:
Fear’s put to flight, in nature is true strength.
A lark’s song celebrates up there on high
The beauty of our vast horizon’s length,
The grandeur o...
Tuesday 19th November 2024 6:51 pm
Whited Sepulchres
Flag-shaggers claim The Silence is their own:
one such, in ignorance, presumed my guilt,
and sneered: “he is alone”, but knew not why;
“He’s running free”, sez he, “why’s that allowed?”
I say to him: “Mate, you know bugger-all:
five comrades, blown to bits of blood and bone,
must keep their silence now, that of the grave;
the silence that I keep has been dear bought,
...
Thursday 14th November 2024 12:25 pm
Remembrance? Forget It!
Notes on Remembrance? Forget It!
My use of the word Pogrom in my poem is deliberate, not flippant. I used it to draw attention to its use by lying news / propaganda outlets with reference to the recent situation in Amsterdam, a deliberately emotive and offensive trivialisation of the horrific reality of pogroms in Russia, and of events such as Kristallnacht. Its use there, was a cynical...
Saturday 9th November 2024 7:43 pm
Clacton-in-Ditch
Dear God, help the people
of Clacton-on-Sea,
who, thinking that things
were as bad as could be,
imagined their saviour,
that frog with a gob,
with a laugh and a smoke,
and a pint in his hand,
the working-man’s bloke,
might change his behaviour,
might just do his job,
keeping shit from their rivers
and shit from their shores?
but his amour now is orange,
s...
Wednesday 6th November 2024 9:46 am
A Greeting in Irish (Beannacht i nGaeilge)
Thought I'd get it in early, as I'll be out tommorrow.
A greeting in Irish
Beannacht i nGaeilge
Oíche Shamhna Shona Daibh!
/Ee-ha How-na hunna ghweev/ (In Phonetics)
Happy Halloween!
Wednesday 30th October 2024 7:48 pm
Love not Hate
Many a pint,
many a laugh,
many a smile,
and many the tears
over the months
and over the years.
Where now, though’s, love,
amongst these not-so-young lads,
and not-so-young girls?
Distant now,
perhaps a year ago?
the memory persists,
it’s vivid still,
the time yon mon,
distraught and close to tears,
burst through those welcoming
double doors,
...Friday 25th October 2024 12:29 pm
Hysterical Women (No.2 of 8-no make that 6!)
Acknowledment to Branwell -
his poem on cliches bump-started my grey matter into action:
"just get something on page - anything, I thought...."
Poor Anne of the Thousand Days,
wouldn’t stick to King Henry like glue,
the second of eight old clichés,
that fat git she just would not woo,
to his will, feisty Anne wouldn’t bend,
well, all the world’s a stage,
cut a long ...
Tuesday 22nd October 2024 8:33 am
Socialist my Arse!
The starver hears but must ignore,
being answerable, not to the many,
but the few’s blood-lusting roar,
strings pulled with many a pretty penny.
lover he, of fascist shores,
solution final, they’ve demanded,
in hock to genocidal boors,
with filthy lucre he’s red-handed.
is there no arse he will not lick?
needs must that he stand by his man;
no conscience has that stan...
Sunday 20th October 2024 11:42 am
Wokeness
A chap wanted less of Wokeness,
Being nice there, caused him lots of stress,
So he moved to Seattle,
Which tested his mettle,
‘Cos then, he was truly Sleepless.
Wednesday 9th October 2024 7:32 pm
Land and Freedom
The title of my sonnet is inspired by that of the excellent 1995 film, Land and Freedom, directed by eminent film director, Ken Loach, persecuted in the UK and elsewhere for his compassionate socialist views.
With reference to my last six lines: the terrorist murder in 1946 of British soldiers, of Jews and others should not be forgotten in the rush to attempt to justify the seven-decades-long ...
Monday 7th October 2024 9:26 am
Just Say No!
It’s time to say NO!
It’s time to turn left,
To staunch the blood flow,
Of truth they’re bereft,
It’s time for the many,
To stand up to the few,
To liars ten-a-penny,
To red ties turned blue,
You’re a friend of apartheid
You’ve just lied to this nation,
You enabler of genocide,
And illegal occupation,
The targets weren’t civilian,
Your pants ar...
Saturday 5th October 2024 3:24 pm
Pick Up Your Scooby Doo!
I’m late, I’m late,
For a very important date,
Yesterday has bin n’ gonee,
Poetry Day went up the Swanee,
Did it float up?…or float right down?
Yes, I was in my favourite pub, in town,
I ducked into the Dog n’ Duck,
(Where t’ pavements are not full o’ muck)
Memory on a great meander,
Leakin’ like a collander,
But at least I’ve read that poem about doggy do,
Thanks...
Friday 4th October 2024 10:35 am
Is This What British Media Has Become-A Bigot-Filled Sewer?
Twittering twattery
Katey-Click-Baitery
Pissed up on winery
Our Hatey Katery,
Twittering blithely,
is Hatey-Katery,
Twattering, spluttering,
Katey-hate-mongering,
Twattering splattering,
Odiously shittering,
Hatefully mongering,
Twattering blithely,
Is that chap gaytery?
Asks Hatey Katery
He must be gay-ery!
Says Hatey Katery,
Yes he seems gay-ery,
...Sunday 29th September 2024 9:05 am
Limerick [Final Solution]
He’s fine with the murder of babies,
All hail to that regime from Hades,
His morals are urinal,
His solution is final,
That’s made him as popular as rabies.
Saturday 28th September 2024 9:02 am
Conference? What Conference?
Thus spake the left cheek of le grand derrière,
“Every child, every person, deserves to be respected”;
No respect though was shown to a fearless dissenter,
With scorn, every word from that cheek was inflected,
When questioned about killing those children in Gaza,
Their gallant defender was manhandled, ejected,
Then slammed in a van by democracy’s rozzers,
That, fellow citizens...
Friday 27th September 2024 12:08 pm
Who Needs Rhetorical Devices!
Belated thanks to John Gilbert Ellis for the last line.
https://www.writeoutloud.net/profiles/johngilbertellis
Who needs rhetorical devices!
asked the philosopher from Devizes,
as his latest theory crystalises!
Thursday 26th September 2024 6:46 am
Two-Tier Racists
She’s persona non grata
to the two-tier mob,
she just doesn’t matter;
yes, “She should be shot”,
is what that man said,
but that’s mighty fine
in Two-Tier’s head;
no, justice ain’t blind
for those two-tier racists,
see, she’s the wrong colour,
her face just ain’t English;
and her friendship with that fellow
called J.C, a socialist,
is quite beyond the pale,
...Sunday 22nd September 2024 12:10 am
We are Human
That’s what makes us human,
that we tell our stories;
we tell not just theirs,
not those of the powerful,
but those of the women
and those of the men,
who all but survive,
in our stinking back-alleys;
so out I now venture,
I, who have been sheltered,
who am warm and well-fed,
to collect from the shop
poems written by many,
for you and for you,
for the muc...
Friday 20th September 2024 12:08 pm
Requiem
Disappeared poets,
Disappeared poems,
Disappeared talents,
Disapproved of poets,
Disapproved of poems,
Disapproved of opinions,
Disapproved of words,
Jumped?
Pushed?
Fucked off in disgust?
Who cares?
Do you?
Why?
Tuesday 17th September 2024 7:58 am
Them uz ‘ave, will ‘ave
There’s a saying around here: “Them uz ‘ave, will ‘ave,” meaning: Those who have, will have. It’s always been true, and is moreso these days.
Them uz ‘ave, will ‘ave, ‘cos thi’ve got cleawt’,
Bur if th’art cowd n’ ‘ungry, on’ gets blotto,
Tha’ll get cawed neawt bu’ feckless workshy leawts,
‘Cos “Aw’m aw reet Jack” ‘s allus bin their motto.
Aye, them uz ‘ave, will ‘ave, ‘c...
Saturday 14th September 2024 12:43 pm
Total Testicles
This is the first stanza of a sonnet from my collection "Total Testicles" now available from Gutter Publishing; all proceeds from the sale thereof will be donated to my favourite charity, The Budgie Smugglers Foundation.
Dit dah, dit dah, dah dit dit lah di dah ?
Di dum, di dum, a rumpy pumpy pum,
Dah diddly dee, di dum doh ray mi fah;
Tarah rah boom de ay, reet lot o’ fun!
Uilleam ...
Wednesday 11th September 2024 9:51 am
The Spectator
Spectator, from your ivory tower you peer,
Through sneers and smears, your wishes are revealed:
That poetry penned by plebs remain concealed,
Of Daffodils, irrational is your fear!
Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh 4th September 2024
Wednesday 4th September 2024 12:13 pm
Nil Carborundum Sanguine Desperandum
The gobshite bullies came for me,
When I, at ten years old or so,
Was forced to admit we’d no TV,
The haunted fish-tank being despised
As nothing but a frippery,
So I couldn’t discuss Four Feather Falls,
And I had nowt to say about Sunset Strip.
When they tried to throw me over a wall,
I fought off five or six of them,
With a “bloody” this and a “bloody” that,
I elbow...
Tuesday 3rd September 2024 4:33 pm
England [Stop the Boots!]
…and did those boots in World War time,
Stamp around England’s pleasant land:
And were those Blackshirt fascist sods,
From Cable Street off-seen!
Never did we countenance a time,
When journalists would see th’ Old Bill!
At dawn, a-knocking on their doors,
For telling truth, with fear instilled!
We must not cease Evil to Fight,,
Nor must my pen sleep in my hand...
Monday 2nd September 2024 12:48 pm
Bebelplatz
There’s something quite rotten in Britain,
Rights Human are now being rewritten,
A journos wrong question,
Brings fascist attention,
He’s arrested and, with prison smitten.
So much then, for pride and remembrance,
Behold now, their hopes in sad embers;
The lobby has paid,
Our forbears betrayed,
Hate thrives now, and it fears no hindrance.
Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh 28th Augu...
Wednesday 28th August 2024 1:50 pm
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