MARIA DUARTE recommends a remarkable study of the friendship between a Palestinian and a Pakistani, broken by a hostile state
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Trussed Up
Simon Haines
MATTHEW HAWKINS rakes through un-fancy words and flair-free summaries to find who and what might be flamboyant
PETER MASON is exhilarated by an exciting, well-considered and historically minded tribute to the great Trinidadian instrument
Reducing historical lives to ‘male’ and ‘female’ roles, we lose the nuance of those lives and a clearer understanding of past societies, suggests CLAIRE ISABELLA GILMOUR
CHRIS SEARLE relishes the genius of pianist Alexander Hawkins, his many ensembles, and his new album
We’re trussed up like a kipper
by this trickle-down wheeze of theirs.
They don’t believe in it themselves,
they know it doesn’t work.
If it worked, of course, there’d be no point
in giving handouts to the rich.
No — we should all be aspirational —
opt to enrich ourselves,
and gain from their trickle-up.
While labouring at this Herculean task
Of becoming rich and powerful
We’ll witness the way those already there
Piss on us, the poor and powerless.
Simon Haines is a language teacher, textbook writer and folk musician. He lives in Suffolk. 21st-century Poetry is edited by Andy Croft, email info@smokestack-books.co.uk.
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