This is Where We are At | Serena Piccoli

This is Where We are At

2 prominent Italians are returning their legion of dis honor awards—France's highest—
in protest at president Macron’s decision to give the award to his friend the Egyptian president al-Sisi

a good friend closes his eyes to
kidnapping\torture\killing 
of 
students\researchers\protesters
and other human rights violations

the 2 Italians accuse al-Sisi of being

objectively complicit
as head of state
in the criminal behavior committed by his men

I turn the page and the rage.
Think of Giulio Regeni 
and read on

a woman assistant professor in US has been called by colleagues

miss missy
honey hon
sugar pumpkin
cutie darling
girl ma’am
student secretary
sweetheart sweetie

I turn the rage

UK pm Johnson is increasing Britain’s investment in defense to its highest level 
since the Cold War

this is our chance to end the era of retreat
transform our armed forces
bolster our global influence
defend our people 
and way of life

a woman in her late 20s suffering from severe ME\chronic fatigue 
has lost her benefits while looking for a flat to share with her fiancée in England
1 year quest and no penny from the state
her fiancée has lost her job – due to the management of the pandemic 
can’t find one 
and of course no penny from the state that imposed the lockdowns

the young woman keeps being rejected

we don’t accept tenants on benefits
only professionals are accepted by the mortgage company

and the lit mag is asking me to write a poem about my hopes for the new year

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#EnglishFreeSchoolMeals

a bag for 10 days:

2 jacket potatoes 

1 Heinz beans 
(Beans, Tomatoes, Water, Modified Cornflour, Spirit Vinegar, Salt, Natural Flavoring, Spice Extracts, Sweetener—Steviol Glycosides, Herb Extract)
 
8 single cheese sandwiches 

2 carrots 
3 apples 

2 soreen 
(Fortified Wheat Flour, Raisins, Partially Inverted Sugar Syrup, Color: E150c, Barley Malt Extract, Maize Starch, Rice Starch, Vegetable Fat (Rapeseed, Palm), Salt, Preservative)

2 bananas
1 loaf of bread

3 frubes
(Yogurt, Skimmed Milk Powder, Lactic Cultures, Sugar 7.1%, Modified Manioc and Maize Starch)
 
spare pasta
1 tomato
—
your children will either starve 
or die of a diet related disease
—
the bag is issued instead of £30 vouchers
the bag of capitalism
—
this is not poetry
this is poverty

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violet

Quote here—add return / line break
only if more than half-way across page.
Make regular block when adding this.
—Attribution (source)

rushing\working\clicking
we’re too busy to notice
the purple\yellow violet
sprouting from cement
in our spring

compulsive saving
bingeing on telly
over here

while over there
she sees and speaks
about mass protests
against petrol prices

cos silence is treason
she says
and gets sentenced to
76 months

though far away from that spring
I’m busy thinking
of the purple\yellow violet
sprouting from jail cement

loudly tossing its head
in our defense

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Poems ©2022 Serena Piccoli
All rights reserved

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