Left voices, unfiltered, unedited, Ungagged.
The UK is broken, and I can’t see how it can ever be fixed. Like Humpty Dumpty, all the constitutional monarch’s horses and all the constitutional monarch’s men can’t put it together again (other animals and sexes are also available) (as are other governing systems, if not actually right here, right now…) Even if, by […]
Why I can’t stand with ‘stand with’ Back in the day, when you wanted to show support for a cause, or for a person, you might march with or for them, you might join a protest for them, you might boycott something or someone on their behalf…you might do many things, but one thing you […]
Cast your mind back, if you will, to the days pre 23rd June 2016, when it was possible to take an intelligent interest in current affairs without wanting to bang your head repeatedly against the wall. When it was possible to have reasoned political arguments on social media and agree to disagree without being insulted, […]
Perhaps the first serious, scholarly book I ever read for pleasure, rather than as part of a syllabus, was The Female Eunuch. I can’t remember now how I came across a copy or who recommended it to me, but I most certainly can remember the experience of reading it; I had never thought about my […]
Just think of all those hours where You weren’t ill, weren’t lost or heartbroken Weren’t unhappy, weren’t distressed Nor tortured with words, spoken or unspoken When you were going about your business as usual. Distractedly, maybe, bored, barely awake, But not in pain, unhappy, feeling desperate Or wracked with self-doubt, or shattered by […]
The inky dark December sky outside is punctured Holed by a luminous moon, cold and full and bright. But inside, there are three candles and eleven tea lights burning There is peace, there is warmth, there is complete quiet. Shifting currents below the surface are heralding something good An almost imperceptible sense of […]
You can’t run away from ghosts. They’re too sly for that. They slip and slide after you, seeping through cracks In your consciousness. That grey silence just before dawn Where your fears rush in and create a gap? That’s their favourite place. Their space. Throw yourself into your work. Go on. Add hours to […]
There were many more casualties resulting from the Twin Tower attacks than the 2,974 people who died in New York that day on 9/11. As well as those poor souls, there have been countless thousands killed in the resulting war on terror carried out in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Libya, and the fall out still […]
News, Articles and Opinion These Shoes Were Made For Kicking We Need To Talk About Libya Oh Dear, Dr Greer May, You Live in Interesting Times Poetry Umbrae Advent Mundanus
This is what perhaps would have once been characterised as a ‘summer story’. An irate mother, annoyed with the ludicrous names attached to some of the ranges of boys’ and girls’ shoes in Clarks, vented her feelings on social media and the story was picked up by the media and went viral. Plenty of politicians […]