The Polite Rioter's Toolkit

The Polite Rioter's Toolkit:
Tea, comics, and trumpets or crumpets -
Feminism, too, we won’t call people strumpets.
A new way we’ve found to raise our call
We’ll riot, for sure, but we'll look after y’all
With a hot drink, a snack and a read, though small
The Polite Rioter’s Toolkit - For one?  For all!

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Inspired by this conversation on Twitter.  

Jackdaw and Jay

Jackdaw and Jay each make their play,
Stand with me every step of the way.
With birds on my shoulders, each side,
Onward I know I’ll successfully stride.

Jay asks me questions wherever we go,
Keeps me looking, learning, on my toes,
Keeps me ever and ongoingly curious,
Collecting knowledge, no matter how spurious.

Jackdaw often brings to me the rain,
They bring an end, but also each refrain -
Keeps me always in a reflective state,
Reminds me of my joys to celebrate.

Jackdaw and Jay each make their play,
Stand with me every step of the way.
With birds on my shoulders, each side,
Onward I know I’ll successfully stride.

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Inspired by an Instragram post by Kae Tempest made when they announced they were gender neutral and changing name.  Included in they discussed the meaning the name Kae: "It’s an old English word that means jay bird. Jays are associated with communication, curiosity, adaptation to new situations and COURAGE which is the name of the game at the moment. It can also mean jackdaw which is the bird that symbolises death and rebirth. Ovid said the jackdaw brought the rain. Which I love. It has its roots in the Latin word for rejoice, be glad and take pleasure."

With an umbrella

With an umbrella designed 

To stop a meteorite,

I saved the world tonight.

With my mind resigned

To gain no recognition

I wonder about transposition.

Because

There was a photo of me

Exploding that comet

Into sprays of fiery vomit. 

Yet there’s no photo of me

Nor does my name get a mention 

Will it ever gain esteemed retention?

And

My name is mud, I know,

My inclusion would embarrass

The elected suits and brasses 

But the seeds I did sow,

To save the world from strife -

I risked my one and only life!

So

With an umbrella designed

To enslave the world tonight,

I will shelter you all with fright. 

Start now to feel resigned,

Get ready for transposition,

For me to control your cognition.

Mindfullness

I suffer from mindfullness

-

It’s brimming.

Give me some mindfulness

-

Need strimming.

Sort me.

Port me.

Unfill me:

Empty.

Refill me:

Plenty.

Not too much:

Less is more.

Not too much:

Stress is a bore.

A neutral state (away from it all)

give me music

that fills the very air,

but doesn't go anywhere.

fill my mind

with a canvas that is clear,

all space a void, nothing to fear.

set me apart,

away from the crowds, confusion -

place me in a bubble, allow me seclusion.

stop my time.

pause it; or place me alongside,

for a while let me ride a new tide.

and take my pain,

and all of my pleasure release,

let the numbness inside me increase.

then leave me outside,

somewhere like a waiting room:

a place that is no place; but not a tomb -

i’ll walk away in a moment,

let me go quietly vent;

give me time to recharge,

give me time to ferment -

because too many times,

always the same;

they take away everything,

leave me in shame.

so take me to a neutral state where

black runs into white and white into black,

where i can’t be seen and i can’t look back,

with no good and no evil, no love and no spite,

where white runs into black and black into white -

just;

take this mask,

let me show you my face.

and,

for a time; give me some space,

take me away from it all.

i no longer wish 

to man my stall.

On seeing through my Enchroma glasses

Was everything quite so dull before?

Not that I ever found colours a bore 

But now they pop out

Now they stand out

Now they jump and dance about

So many greens! Who ever knew?

And reds, yellows, pinks and blues!

All it took was some specs,

To brighten the flecks,

And stop flowers from being mere specks?

A melancholy man on the shore

A melancholy man on the shore,

Most find him to be quite a bore -

But his heart has been split,

And his confidence ripped -

That shit will rock you right down to the core.