The Battle of Cable Street 4th Oct 1936 - 4th Oct 2006 By Patrick Henry

A lifetime since when that ring of steel clashed down these streets. Boot-heels struck cobbles. Bin-lids for shields buckled in defence To batons, rocks, banner-shafts. Ears cocked to hear drum-rolls and fast heart-beats. Blood drenched the gutters spelling a race to make the difference. That ghostly noise now matched by this grainy print which holds A moment grasping turmoil of a decade that drowned continents

In regimes inhuman as vulturous, Futuristic, ill-starred worlds, Faced by the stern Yiddish reply in frayed grey garments, In need of repair mentioned by the smashed overhead shop-sign, Where they stand ground on pavements trod by Oswald and The Met: "A. LEVI. SUITS TO FIT." Clothes make the man for each occasion: A black shirt; a skull cap; a khaki blouse; a funeral suit. Now nearby market traders and clients loom mostly Afro, Slav, Asiatics. Waves of resentment resurge through the present White Have-Not. Jack-The-Lads turn their sport of Wog-Bashing to New Party Agendas. Too young for El Duce, Tojo, Franco? We who date from then never have forgot. My own lines come mixed: Irish, Nordic, Saxon, Romany, Who clashed sometime at Clontarf, Stamford Bridge, Ypres, Auschwitz. Some who spawned me proved strong by command of territory, Others lived by songs of the road, and not by closed identities.

Copyright ©2006  Patrick Henry

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Poetry - The Spoon Player By Maurice Fairfield
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Poetry - Faith, Hope And Charity By Maurice Fairfield
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Poetry - The Interview By Katherine Horrex
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Poetry - November Bride By Laura Fry

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Poetry -The Trial of Charles Roberts By Lee Cassanell

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Poetry - Fake Plastic Socialist Poets By Joe Hakim

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Poetry - Coffee In Plastic Cups By Shaun Heesom
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Poetry - Loafer Party Conference By Patrick Henry
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Poetry - War Hero By Nikki Sheppeck

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Poetry - Here Comes Another Daydream By Sean Davey

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Poetry - The Law's The Law By Del Abe Jones.

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Poetry - The Dog Ate My Lottery Ticket By Beth McGann.

	The dog ate my lottery ticket So I turned him into a rug Made his teeth into a necklace and his bollocks into a top pair of earrings. oh, no, it wasn't a winning lottery ticket, I just couldn't stand the dog. Read More

Poetry - The Girl Who Brought The Shopping By Shaun Heesom
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Poetry - On Beginning To Recognise Moss By Beth McGann.

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Poetry - Family Fortunes By Mike Watts
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Poetry - Thoughts Broken Like Glass On A Pavement Outside The Pub By Joe Hakim

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Poetry - Perfect Flower, Love and I Missed You 3 Poems By David Morris

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Poetry - A Day To Remember By Del Abe Jones.

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Poetry - High Summer In A Field By The A1079 By Beth McGann.

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Poetry - The Deciding Test By Patrick Henry
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Poetry - Terminal Crisis By Patrick Henry
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