The Rebel Verses Society

By Tom Laimer-Read

A collection of explosive poetry from the best minds of a lost generation. This is the poetry of the street with a hardcore beat as it rampages through the city in a riot of words. Featuring the works of Hazel Compton, Vince Laws, Stan C. Grant, Tom Laimer-Read, Ruth Stockwell, John William Brown, Jake Wyatt, Dominic Berry, Nick Lake, Nadeem Zafar, Rich Davenport, Russell J. Turner, Tony Kinsella, Stephanie Laimer-Read and Julian Daniel, you will find a diverse dissection of contemporary values and precision incisions into the murky political machinations of our times. Warning: Contains language and views that some readers may find unsettling!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tom Laimer-Read
• Release date: Nov 5, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310345524

Tom Laimer-Read

Tom Laimer-Read is a writer who wants to make writing exciting. Tom went to various state schools in Norwich in various states of consciousness, where he enjoyed reading and not being at school. He was in a few bands that were fun, but didn't get much attention from the national press as they don't tend to report from local rugby clubs and village halls. In the late 1990s Tom headed to Manchester University to study English with a burgeoning love of The Smiths, Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, Joy Division, Inspiral Carpets, The Fall and Buzzcocks, certain that Manchester would be a hotbed of new musical mavericks and a place where more fantastic, original music would emerge. He was wrong. That year the Hacienda closed down, the pills, thrills and bellyaches dried up and the 24 hour party was over, never to be reignited during his ten years there, unlike the large I.R.A. bomb that did ignite and tore through the heart of the city causing widespread damage to it and the psyche of the people (who were already damaged enough) the summer before he arrived.Tom studied comic books, Dada and the contents of his navel, and was also in a few more unsuccessful bands, but became disillusioned with the stagnant music scene, taking up the mic in comedy clubs instead. He encountered many strange creatures declaring themselves to be comedians, and participated in a murky arena where lurked some extremely unusual, unsavoury individuals, moreso than any punk rock set-up could contain.After a while, this also got a bit samey, since the big clubs supported the more boring acts, so Tom went back to music, hooking up with fellow disaffected comedians Steve G., Tom 'Jim the Poet' Faucett and Adam Bowman. They formed The Chainsores and had some legendary performances, most of them seen by very few people. After the band's spectacular demise and a short-lived follow-up, The Casual Vandals, Tom moved back to his home town of Norwich and continued to perform solo comedy, edging in the political direction. Tom performed a show about the danger of I.D. cards at the Edinburgh Fringe called 'Freedom Come, Freedom Go', which not many people saw, and has run alternative comedy nights such as Normal Service Will Be Resumed Shortly and The Dysfunction Room, which were mostly ignored, as his books probably will be too.

Book preview

I am keen to collect a selection of poems and lyrics to demonstrate that there is still some political bite in poetry and society. It is a way of using our voices and our writing to state our views, what we believe in and what we disagree with. Not enough people, be they the general public, public officials, artists, musicians or creative people, are speaking out against injustices and problems with society, leaving us in a morally stagnant, corrupted state. Politicians are in the pockets of big corporations and aristocratic interests. We need to take a stand, prick their consciences somehow. This is a small attempt at doing that. I asked a number of poets that I knew if they would like to contribute to this collection, and most were more than happy to oblige. Thank you to one and all. Words can never hurt you, can they? However, the word is mightier than the sword.

Tom Laimer-Read, Editor and Author at Let's Rock Publishing Ltd

The Fifth of November

by Anon

Remember, remember

The fifth of November,

Gunpowder, treason and plot.

I see no reason

Why gunpowder, treason

Should ever be forgot.

FALSE ECONOMY

Don't Bank Love

by Dominic Berry

Our love

in shoe boxes under the bed,

in brown, big envelopes

stuffed,

loaded

under the arm chair.

Banks give plastic.

Don’t see or feel.

Accept transaction

without question.

Our home

takes love with one sugar.

Stuffed,

Loaded,

sprawls through woodchip.

Neo-Con Nazis

by Tom Laimer-Read

You’re particularly offensive,

Politically aggressive,

I think you’re a snake in the grass.

Power’s gone to your head,

Drunk on oppression and the piled up corpses of the dead,

I think you can kiss my ass!

Neo-Con Nazis, your time is up!

Neo-Con Nazis, you’re way too corrupt.

I don’t like your agenda.

Can’t we come together?

I think you’ve got too much power.

Most of the wealth in the hands of the few,

Isn’t a great deal for business to do.

I think it’s your final hour.

Neo-Con Nazis, your time is up!

Neo-Con Nazis, you’re way too corrupt.

Megalomania,

Can drive you insane, yeah!

STRIP!

by Vince Laws

Give me an S!

S is your Spare Bedroom Tax.

10 million disabled people

in the UK, under attack.

S is the Shirt that they stole off my back!

Give me a T!

T is your Torture, your Tick-box Test.

70 'Fit For Work' people die each week

because your Work Capability Assessment's

up Cull Creek.

Stop putting humans

through an inhumane test.

The disabled only protest

when they've nothing left to lose.

Iain Duncan Smith is the shit on my shoes!

Give me an R!

R is for Remploy, Redundancies, Recession,

I paid into your system

But you mis-sold me oppression.

You wish more employers would take us on

so take the lead Dave, and show what can be done.

Better still, Government, give the lead to us,

if the Disabled have to be on board

we'll drive the fracking bus!

I need another moat and a house for my ducks!

Mixed metaphors and the system socks!

Give me an I!

I is the Independent Living Fund,

It lets people live the lives that they own.

New claims were stopped in 2010

and it's death by Coalition in 2015.

Not-yet-disabled millionaires

are stocking up on shares

while stripping us of benefits.

First they take the services

that allow us independence,

then they'll stick us all in Care Homes

and trouser all the profits!

Give me a P!

P is for P.I.P., A Personal Independence Plan

It replaces Disability Living Allowance

but it's a scam.

500,000 people tricked

out of the help they currently get.

This Coalition are the goalpost shifters.

They've changed the definition of disability,

and that's a job for doctors not politicians.

Disabled people have had enough -

when the only option's destitution -

the gloves are firmly off!

Eton Mess

by Tony Kinsella

We’re stretching our budget

Drinking the dregs

You can’t make an omelette

Without any eggs

Bullingdon bankers and overweight slobs

Feast on a pig’s head

With an apple in its gob

Their waistlines expand

From X.L. to excess

While we’re stuck in this fucking Eton Mess.

All mouth and smart trousers

They