Everyday Poems

Oh, to be in England
Now that Brexit is here
And he who wakes in England
Sees, some morning, unaware
How an Englishman’s rancid bile
Is spread through tabloid guile
Fermenting abuse and hate
While on Radio 4 the chaffinch’s morning chorus sates
The uncomfortable reflection
Of the comfortable
In England now!

And after Brexit,
When victory abates and the wallow
Of angry still hungry chorus build
Hark, where the empty factory wall
Leans to the field and pit below
now spilling paper, pallet and waste
Where once coal was raised, listen
To the sage’s wise words on repeat
who fortold this fate
Lest they never be heard
Till too late
Though while the fields look rough with hoary dew
So they will be when noontide wakes anew
No buttercup or children’s bower
Just empty buildings and derelict pit head tower