Thoughts and Prayers

Racist terror

thoughts and prayers

Basest error

thoughts and prayers

Crossing, drowning

thoughts and prayers

Solemn, frowning

thoughts and prayers

Thoughts and prayers

and sad reactions

Thoughts and prayers

but rarely actions

Stabbed and killed

thoughts and prayers

Life unfulfilled

thoughts and prayers

Death in prison

thoughts and prayers

No decision

just thoughts and prayers

Thoughts and prayers

respectful silence

Thoughts and prayers

and yet more violence

Killer storms

thoughts and prayers

Global warming 

thoughts and prayers

Climate chaos

thoughts and prayers

Recycled pathos

thoughts and prayers

Thoughts and prayers

and resolutions

Thoughts and prayers

but no solutions

Thoughts and prayers

and bare exchanges

Thoughts and prayers

but nothing changes

They've bought up shares

in thoughts and prayers

© Janine Booth

After Christchurch, Muslims need more than just your thoughts and prayers

Janine Booth - [Website: Janine Booth]

Janine lives in Hackney, East London. She writes and performs poetry, and has had three slim volumes of poetry published. Janine posts poems and political polemics on her website.

Soldier F

Soldier F said he only harmed

protesters who held bombs or arms

Soldier F had truths to hide

The soldier lied

Lord Saville said

none of the dead

had posed a threat

but that did not stop Soldier F

When one-and-twenty soldiers shoot

then why no prospect to prosecute

Soldier L or Soldier M

who killed a lad who crawled from them?

Or Soldier P or Soldier E

on their shooting spree

with Soldier J?

They shot men dead as they ran away

Can't exonerate them all

Soldier F can take the fall

Army brass repel all boarders

Close ranks round those who gave the orders

Families bereft

No trust is left

Is justice deaf?
Soldier F

© Janine Booth

Bloody Sunday: Soldier F faces murder charges

Janine Booth is a Marxist motormouth who lives in London but travels around stirring up trouble, ranting, rhyming and revolting. She has four published poetry books, plus numerous contributions to anthologies and journals. More here: www.janinebooth.com

Ethan Sneaks Out

Teen sneaks out for a late-night flick
eighteen-rated, knows the tricks
Make-up makes you older, see -
facial hair and fake ID

But teenage Ethan -
He sneaks out for a different reason

Teen snuck out to a punk rock gig
armed with safety pins and cigs

Slipped out the back to an all-night rave
Es and whizz and misbehaves

But teenage Ethan -

He sneaks out for a different reason

Teens sneak out to down some beers

get tattooed or pierce their ears

Or eyebrows, nipples if they dare

shave their head or dye their hair

But teenage Ethan -
He sneaks out for a different reason

Teen sneaks out for a romantic tryst

a clumsy fumble, teeth-clashing kiss

Teens sneak out for a crafty fag

packet of spearmints in their bag

But teenage Ethan -
He sneaks out for a different reason

Ethan's reason was defiance -

rebellion in the name of science

Shooting up though his parents hate it -

Ethan snuck out to get vaccinated

© Janine Booth

Teen who defied mother by getting vaccinated testifies before Congress

Janine lives in Hackney, East London. She writes and performs poetry, and has had three slim volumes of poetry published. Janine posts poems and political polemics on her website.

Unlucky Number

Twenty-six people

own as much wealth as

the poorest half of the world's population,

as three point eight billion humans.

Twenty-six people:

one for every letter of the alphabet.

Picture them all from A to Zed,

think them arms and legs and heads.

According to the Guinness Book of Records,

they could all fit into a Mini Cooper,

although admittedly,

it would be a tight squeeze.

If one came into your house

every fifty-five minutes

then within just one day

they would all be there.

Twenty-six people.

Two rugby league teams,

a baker's two dozen,

the number of fortnights in one year,

red cards in a deck,

counties in the Republic of Ireland,

miles in a marathon,

faces of a rhombicuboctahedron.

The number of lines in this poem so far.

Twenty-six people.

Last year it was forty-three,

the year before it was sixty-one,

falling, showing

inequality growing.

Twenty-six diamond-encrusted crabs

on a beach of three point eight billion

grains of sand.

Count them and rage.

© Janine Booth

World's richest get richer while planet's poorest get poorer, new Oxfam report shows

Janine lives in Hackney, East London. She writes and performs poetry, and has had three slim volumes of poetry published. Janine posts poems and political polemics on her website.

From Martin to Ada

You've won the Women's Ballon d'Or
You dribble, tackle, shoot and score
But do you twerk?

You strike a hard and well-aimed ball
Around a wide defensive wall
But do you twerk?

Top scorer in the Champions League
But one thing fills me with intrigue:
Do you twerk?

I know your sporting skills inspire us
But do you move like Miley Cyrus?
Do you twerk?!

As I present the great award
I don't know where my sense is stored
It doesn't work

© Janine Booth

Ballon d'Or: DJ Martin Solveig sorry for Ada Hegerberg 'twerk' question

Janine Booth lives in Hackney, east London, and writes books as well as poetry. Her biography of Minnie Lansbury - suffragette, socialist and rebel councillor - has just been published by Five Leaves.

It's Dark Satire

It's Dark Satire

Iain Duncan Smith
Is donating sugar
Irony dies, suffocating
In demonic smile

© Janine Booth

When Tory MPs visit foodbanks

Widening Roads

Widening roads
parking lorries
carrying loads
of no-deal worries

Laying Tarmac
digging ditches
making car parks
burning bridges

Office holder
riding high on
a hard Brexit shoulder
to pull over and cry on

Sailing boats away
laying mines
widening motorways
narrowing minds

© Janine Booth

UK plan to use motorway as ‘parking lot’ if no Brexit deal

Janine Booth lives in Hackney, East London. She writes and performs poetry, and has had three slim volumes of poetry published. Janine posts poems and political polemics at www.janinebooth.com

Who Do You Blame?

Those who fought it
    or those who caused it?

Those who saved sixty-five
    or those who cost seventy-two?

Those who did not know the tower was clad in torchwood
    or those who chose that cladding because it was cheaper?

Those whose chosen job is to walk into burning buildings to save life
    or those whose careers are built on making money by cutting corners?

Those who have seen things they will never forget
    or those who see only pounds and pence?

Those whom the community deeply respects
    or those it holds in profound contempt?

Those who pass muster
    or those who pass the buck?

Michael Dowden, we stand with you.


© Janine Booth

'I Am Michael Dowden' trends on Twitter as Grenfell firefighter who broke down at inquiry is inundated with messages of support

#IAmMichaelDowden

Janine Booth lives in Hackney, East London. She writes and performs poetry, and has had three slim volumes of poetry published. Janine posts poems and political polemics at www.janinebooth.com

No Hope for Chope

I fancied some titilating photos
    so I went on an upskirting hunt
I didn't really care about consent,
    that's if I'm being blunt
I came across Sir Christopher
    and thought I'd have a punt
I'd capture a peek of his private parts,
    I'd chortle and I'd grunt
It seemed to me a great idea,
    a harmless and witty stunt
But what was the image my camera showed?
    A big, wet, swollen, vulgar affront

© Janine Booth

Chope's ignorant objection to the upskirting bill shows how little female consent matters to a lot of men in power

Janine Booth lives in Hackney, East London. She writes and performs poetry, and has had three slim volumes of poetry published. Janine posts poems and political polemics at www.janinebooth.com

Lives Shortened

Sorry?
Is
Jeremy Hunt
for real?

Up to 270 dead is
the toll of that 'glitch'

That is
Hundreds of women gone
unscanned, untreated
Hundreds of women gone

That is
the toll of that 'glitch'
Up to 270 dead is
for real.

Jeremy Hunt
is
sorry.

© Janine Booth

Jeremy Hunt 'sorry' for breast scan error

Janine Booth lives in Hackney, East London. She writes and performs poetry, and has had three slim volumes of poetry published. Janine posts poems and political polemics at www.janinebooth.com

Button It

Please press each day to say you're still alive

We need to save some cash so we're appealing

To older citizens to please deprive

Yourselves of human company and feeling

You worked hard all your life - now you're a burden

We can't afford to visit you each day

A button's so much cheaper than a warden

So press it, dear, and we'll know you're OK

Please press to tell us you're still drawing breath

We'll tick you off, forget you till tomorrow

Press 1 for still alive, just hold for death

You'll be transferred to automated sorrow

No frontline staff, we scrapped them in a meeting

Please press to tell us that your heart's still beating

© Janine Booth

‘Press button if still alive’ plan for OAPs is ‘dangerous’

Janine Booth lives in Hackney, East London. She writes and performs poetry, and has had three slim volumes of poetry published. Janine posts poems and political polemics at www.janinebooth.com

Busted

Carillion’s

Made its billions

Now its debt is so big, its account’s in vermillion

With coldness reptilian

It dumps on civilians

Rides off into sunset; the Tories ride pillion

If it were not so serious, it would be vaudevillian

The profit inspectors

and bullshit detectors

in multiple sectors

did not rein in the dividend collectors

The public protectors

who serve the electors

must jail the directors

© Janine Booth

Carillion collapse raises job fears

Janine Booth lives in Hackney, East London. She writes and performs poetry, and has had three slim volumes of poetry published. Janine posts poems and political polemics at www.janinebooth.com

Double Trump

The New Normal

The new normal at odds with its own issues of self restraint

mouths running as if their tongues were in desperate need of a good kiss

opinions pierce into brains dumbed down into pin cushions

the bought and sold bigotry of the MLB, NFL and the NBA

just a modern day slave trade,

our leaders have lost the plot and

most artists will sell themselves out

and all of this passive aggressive sexual prowess

ain’t getting nobody properly laid.

© Joshua Baumgarten

'Shame on Trump!' World reacts to Trump's 'shithole countries' remarks

Joshua Baumgarten is an ex-pat New Yorker living in Holland. He organises the Irrational Library evenings - nights of poetry, rock n roll and casual chaos, and performs as a Standup Spoken Word artist.

On Shitholes

A place becomes a shithole

when someone digs a hole and shits in it

Someone like you, Donald Trump,

and all the rulers and raiders

and tin-pot dictators

the speculators and devastators

the extractors and the malefactors

Shitholes, however unpleasant,

at least serve a purpose

It is better to bury your shit in them

than to let it flow in torrents

out of your mouth

every time you open it

© Janine Booth

Trump decries immigrants from 'shithole countries' coming to US

Janine Booth lives in Hackney, East London. She writes and performs poetry, and has had three slim volumes of poetry published. Janine posts poems and political polemics at www.janinebooth.com

The Pope's Prayer

Oppressed people

Who art in Myanmar

Rohingya be thy name

The soldiers come

And killing is done

Of Muslims

As it is of Hindus

Give them this day the right to live

And forgive them their namelessness

As we forgive those who ethnically cleanse them

Lead us not into silent assent

But deliver them from genocide

For thine is the military

The state and the power

To destroy forever

Their name

© Janine Booth

Pope Francis Suggests Changing The Words To The 'Lord's Prayer'

Janine Booth lives in Hackney, East London. She writes and performs poetry, and has had three slim volumes of poetry published. Janine posts poems and political polemics at www.janinebooth.com

When You Just Can't Help Yourself

If you've an aerosol can

and a stairwell wall

You've a ready-made canvas

for a spray-on cock and balls

If you're sitting at your desk

and the lesson's getting boring

Then you whip out your ballpoint

and you do a bit of drawing

The bus window's steamed up?

You can't fight the temptation

to add some decoration

to the condensation

If you're poised on the khazi

and the door's looking bare

And you've got a felt tip

then you'll do it if you dare

If you're serving up dinner

and it's meat and two veg

Arrange them rather tastefully

with sauce around the edge

But if you are a pilot

then what else can you do

But fly a contrail cock

and balls against the blue?

© Janine Booth

US Navy pilot who drew huge penis in sky with plane is banned from flying

Janine Booth lives in Hackney, East London. She writes and performs poetry, and has had three slim volumes of poetry published. Janine posts poems and political polemics at www.janinebooth.com

Villanelle: Eyes On the Prize

The Pfizer guys are haggling with the NICE

And while they talk, the cancer spreads again

You’ll get your pills when they’ve agreed a price

You’ll get your answer when they’ve rolled their dice

And dealt your hand out in their counting den

The Pfizer guys are haggling with the NICE

So just be patient, please heed our advice

At some point, they will tell the patients when

You’ll get your pills, when they’ve agreed a price

Shareholders and Execs must get their slice

Your longer life lies with the money men

The Pfizer guys are haggling with the NICE

It’s hard for them to make this sacrifice

Each penny off’s a penny less for them

You’ll get your pills when they’ve agreed a price

Nine months of talks to get the charge precise

Let’s hope that you can stay alive till then

The Pfizer guys are haggling with the NICE

You’ll get your pills when they’ve agreed a price

© Janine Booth

NICE backs funding for Pfizer, Novartis breast cancer drugs

Janine Booth lives in Hackney, East London. She writes and performs poetry, and has had three slim volumes of poetry published. Janine posts poems and political polemics at www.janinebooth.com

Scales of Injustice

Pick up the leaflet

pick up a pen

Rate on a scale of nil to ten

how broken is your heart

how much your life is rent apart

Rate your mental state

Is it three or six or eight?

Rate on a scale of nil to ten

Where nil is

I don't give a toss about them'

And ten is

'I'll never feel intact again'

Rate on a scale of one to one hundred

How many died

and how many live

How many flying ones you give

Rate on a scale of one to twenty-four

how many floors

how many storeys

What is the score

you'll give to the Tories?

How much do they care?

How much more can you bear?

How much are they willing

to foot the bill?

Rate on a scale

from zero to nil.

© Janine Booth

Backlash over Kensington Tories' Grenfell Tower leaflet

Janine Booth lives in Hackney, East London. She writes and performs poetry, and has had three slim volumes of poetry published. Janine posts poems and political polemics at www.janinebooth.com

Transnational Anthem

God save one's gracious tax

Long live one's noble sacks

God save one's tax

Send it on holiday

Make sure the proles all pay

I own the islands anyway

God save one's tax

One has to be much shrewder

Deposit some in Bermuda

And some offshore

Take all the dosh one's got

Fill up one's golden pot

And stash it on the Royal Yacht

Then get some more

Those frightful reds are touchy

I flippin' own the Duchy

Long may one reign

Who is the cheque payee?

It's H. M. Treasury

One pays the tax from me to me

Your loss, one's gain

This is the wealth one's seized

Plundered through centuries

By sword and suit

Why's this a scandal? We

Handle cash cannily

We keep it in the family

God save one's loot

© Janine Booth

Revealed: Queen's private estate invested millions of pounds offshore

Janine Booth is a Poet on the Picket Line, ranting, rhyming and revolting at a gig, demo or reading near you. www.janinebooth.com

Pay to Pollute

C-charge

T-charge

Why is it OK

to congest

and pollute

London

So long as you pay?

© Janine Booth

T-Charge: New London traffic charge comes into force

Janine Booth lives in Hackney, East London. She writes and performs poetry, and has had three slim volumes of poetry published. Janine posts poems and political polemics at www.janinebooth.com

Harvey is a Sex Addict

Harvey Weinstein is an addict

Harvey, he just has to have it

Harvey's checked into a clinic

Not convinced? You heartless cynic

Harvey can not help himself

Please pray for Harvey's failing health

Poor Harvey, he is sex addicted

Please don't mock the sad afflicted

He's compelled to grope and woo

His penis tells him what to do

He has no choice, he must obey

He needs to sate his lust each day

So Harvey's at it like a rabbit

Finds it hard to kick his habit

He's a slave to his libido

Hands won't stay in his tuxedo

Doctor! It's pathology!

Why can't you show some sympathy?!

- But here's the thing that's overlooked

- It wasn't sex got Harvey hooked

- 'Cause sex is pleasure, sex is sensual

- Most of all, sex is consensual

- Harvey's targets cringe and cower

- Harvey gets his kicks from power

- Go and tell your editor:

- Harvey is a predator.

© Janine Booth

Harvey Weinstein’s “sex addiction”: Another way to blame women

Janine Booth lives in Hackney, East London. She writes and performs poetry, and has had three slim volumes of poetry published. Janine posts poems and political polemics at www.janinebooth.com