Poems about Britain and being British
#Britain
Poems about Britain and British culture, history, politics and lifestyle. Poems about England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and cities and islands within Britain. Also, poetry about British poets and famous British people.
Northern_Soul
Poem Published
7th Apr 2024 7:18am
7th Apr 2024 7:18am
Hymn to Water
They were windsurfing on the lake today.
Storm Kathleen was rolling in after all
and so I watched them on a jetty
skim the waves with all the grace
of Bambi on ice.
The sports club owns that one—
charges exorbitant fees to dive
as well as insisting on wet-suits
and tow-floats and lifeguards
and other shit sucking the life
from wild experiences.
I don’t swim there.
I refuse to be sanitised
and maybe as forty looms
I carry with me the spirit
of my anarchic era
...
Storm Kathleen was rolling in after all
and so I watched them on a jetty
skim the waves with all the grace
of Bambi on ice.
The sports club owns that one—
charges exorbitant fees to dive
as well as insisting on wet-suits
and tow-floats and lifeguards
and other shit sucking the life
from wild experiences.
I don’t swim there.
I refuse to be sanitised
and maybe as forty looms
I carry with me the spirit
of my anarchic era
...
#water
#nature
#pagan #Britain
#pagan #Britain
173 reads
8 Comments
Northern_Soul
Poem Published
5th Apr 2024 8:10am
5th Apr 2024 8:10am
Hymn to Air
Two arms, propellor blades
lift in and out of the lake
rhythmic and calm
rhythmic and calm
rhythmic and calm
I float
beneath the sun
yet no warmth in this world,
spring tides on a pivot of ice.
For a moment, I look at clouds
seeing shapes in formless things
then gulp down breath in lungfuls
as I plunge beneath April’s waves.
This is how it felt
before time began,
before people and taxes
became one strange God
this is how I crawl back
inside the womb, how I wait ...
lift in and out of the lake
rhythmic and calm
rhythmic and calm
rhythmic and calm
I float
beneath the sun
yet no warmth in this world,
spring tides on a pivot of ice.
For a moment, I look at clouds
seeing shapes in formless things
then gulp down breath in lungfuls
as I plunge beneath April’s waves.
This is how it felt
before time began,
before people and taxes
became one strange God
this is how I crawl back
inside the womb, how I wait ...
#myself
#pagan
#Britain
184 reads
4 Comments
Northern_Soul
Poem Published
4th Apr 2024 9:11am
4th Apr 2024 9:11am
Hymn to Earth
I found the idle skeleton
of a lone deer out on the moor,
half-visible, half-sinking
into the bone-rich mud
eye sockets empty; the skin
quite gone as I considered
how death is simply life
with a free buffet.
Often, I dream of what it must
be like to sink into nothingness.
To seep slowly into the liminal,
to pour fuel into the abyss
how Earth
is always two parts green
often ten parts silence
of a lone deer out on the moor,
half-visible, half-sinking
into the bone-rich mud
eye sockets empty; the skin
quite gone as I considered
how death is simply life
with a free buffet.
Often, I dream of what it must
be like to sink into nothingness.
To seep slowly into the liminal,
to pour fuel into the abyss
how Earth
is always two parts green
often ten parts silence
#earth
#pagan
#Britain
195 reads
15 Comments
Northern_Soul
Poem Published
3rd Apr 2024 8:13am
3rd Apr 2024 8:13am
Hymn to Brigid
Ask her
where those wells touch sunlight;
where water kisses fragrant air
bursting with daisies, sweet honeysuckle
where she guides ink in heathen hands
pressed against warm sheets of paper,
word becoming thought,
thought becoming deed, and deed
becoming reason in humble retreat.
Ask her
where Celtic blood quakes in the eaves
of an oak-bound house, where children
gather around Mother’s milk, a fire roars,
part faith, part God in the arms
of the hopeless. She moves ...
where those wells touch sunlight;
where water kisses fragrant air
bursting with daisies, sweet honeysuckle
where she guides ink in heathen hands
pressed against warm sheets of paper,
word becoming thought,
thought becoming deed, and deed
becoming reason in humble retreat.
Ask her
where Celtic blood quakes in the eaves
of an oak-bound house, where children
gather around Mother’s milk, a fire roars,
part faith, part God in the arms
of the hopeless. She moves ...
#spring
#pagan
#Britain
154 reads
0 Comments
Northern_Soul
Poem Published
2nd Apr 2024 9:36am
2nd Apr 2024 9:36am
Hymn to Cernunnos
I threw up in the alley
shortly after leaving the car.
It was a mixture of things—
the smell of the place for one,
how my stomach lurched
the second I turned a corner
to see that old market cross
standing in the square
and there it was
the old flat rented out
in somebody else’s name,
the carpet shop quite gone
replaced with books
and barbers.
I looked up at the window.
Where [x] happened.
That thing.
I still can’t speak its...
shortly after leaving the car.
It was a mixture of things—
the smell of the place for one,
how my stomach lurched
the second I turned a corner
to see that old market cross
standing in the square
and there it was
the old flat rented out
in somebody else’s name,
the carpet shop quite gone
replaced with books
and barbers.
I looked up at the window.
Where [x] happened.
That thing.
I still can’t speak its...
#pagan
#Britain
#DomesticViolence
186 reads
2 Comments
Northern_Soul
Poem Published
1st Apr 2024 8:43am
1st Apr 2024 8:43am
The lighting of the flame
I walk barefoot
calling to the heart
of Brigantes land
listen to the crow of moorland
shiver those dark, dead bones
… do you hear me, old ones
is your howl the feral fire
that stokes this Pagan blood
.
.
.
hail to the watchtowers,
the cardinal directions
hail to the sun, moon
and all her stars
hail to my beloved England
as she unfurls before me
singing the song of place,
the indigenous birthright
of alchemy—
stoke your fires deep within
...
calling to the heart
of Brigantes land
listen to the crow of moorland
shiver those dark, dead bones
… do you hear me, old ones
is your howl the feral fire
that stokes this Pagan blood
.
.
.
hail to the watchtowers,
the cardinal directions
hail to the sun, moon
and all her stars
hail to my beloved England
as she unfurls before me
singing the song of place,
the indigenous birthright
of alchemy—
stoke your fires deep within
...
#pagan
#Britain
192 reads
2 Comments
Northern_Soul
Poem Published
17th Mar 2024 11:45am
17th Mar 2024 11:45am
Ode To Misery
I’m a stone in a world of flowers
the curious call of moors,
the old crow language
of wings circling
their ancient dead
peat bodies rotting beneath the weight
of seventies murder. The swaying
New Romantics surrendering to the dark.
I am grey beaches in homeless overcoats,
banshees of Tudor shipwrecks
shaking bone rattles in violent storms.
I am poverty
and steel
and recklessness
an IRA wound on a city wall; coal crowns
of Thatcherite rule haloing unforgiving
stomachs...
the curious call of moors,
the old crow language
of wings circling
their ancient dead
peat bodies rotting beneath the weight
of seventies murder. The swaying
New Romantics surrendering to the dark.
I am grey beaches in homeless overcoats,
banshees of Tudor shipwrecks
shaking bone rattles in violent storms.
I am poverty
and steel
and recklessness
an IRA wound on a city wall; coal crowns
of Thatcherite rule haloing unforgiving
stomachs...
#grief
#LifeStruggles
#ghosts
#despair
#Britain
305 reads
13 Comments
Northern_Soul
Poem Published
2nd Mar 2024 6:58pm
2nd Mar 2024 6:58pm
It’s not where you’re from, it’s where you’re at
We drive through flats
that are more grime
than home
it’s where we’re at—
at the supermarket
where yellow stickers
dishonour good food
in a way it doesn’t deserve.
There were two food banks
on the way
but it’s exactly
where we’re at
filling a trolley to a tenth
of its capacity until
a stomach reminds
a human how little
the body needs
to survive
.
.
.
I struck gold today.
...
that are more grime
than home
it’s where we’re at—
at the supermarket
where yellow stickers
dishonour good food
in a way it doesn’t deserve.
There were two food banks
on the way
but it’s exactly
where we’re at
filling a trolley to a tenth
of its capacity until
a stomach reminds
a human how little
the body needs
to survive
.
.
.
I struck gold today.
...
#Britain
#poverty
#FreeVerse
236 reads
6 Comments
randyjohnson
Poem Published
26th Feb 2024 6:36pm
26th Feb 2024 6:36pm
The 20th Anniversary of Russell Hunter's Death
It was two decades ago today when an actor took his final breath.
When he starred in Doctor Who, he starred in "The Robots of Death".
His name was Russell Hunter and he was born in February of 1925.
Next year would've been his 100th birthday if he had survived.
Hunter starred in nineteen episodes of "The Gaffer" and one episode of "Born and Bred".
People in England were sad twenty years ago today because they learned he was dead.
In 1976, he starred in one episode of "Play From A".
He also starred in "Daddy's...
When he starred in Doctor Who, he starred in "The Robots of Death".
His name was Russell Hunter and he was born in February of 1925.
Next year would've been his 100th birthday if he had survived.
Hunter starred in nineteen episodes of "The Gaffer" and one episode of "Born and Bred".
People in England were sad twenty years ago today because they learned he was dead.
In 1976, he starred in one episode of "Play From A".
He also starred in "Daddy's...
#death
#anniversary
#Britain #nonfiction
#Britain #nonfiction
137 reads
0 Comments
Vision_of_insanity
Poem Published
12th Feb 2024 7:43pm
12th Feb 2024 7:43pm
Hail to England Part 4
1990's & beyond
Admiral Sir Cloudesley
Adorior
Akercocke
Anaal Nathrakh
Anathema
Aphex Twin
Benediction
Benighted Leams
Cancer
Cathedral
Cradle of Filth
December Moon
Deviated Instinct
Electric Wizard
Fellwarden
Fen
Forefather
Hateful Abandon
Hybernoid
Infestation
Instinct
James Hardway
Jesu
Lawnmower Deth
My Dying Bride
Nordland
Paradise Lost
Pitchshifter
Porcupine Tree
Portishead
Reign of Erebus ...
Admiral Sir Cloudesley
Adorior
Akercocke
Anaal Nathrakh
Anathema
Aphex Twin
Benediction
Benighted Leams
Cancer
Cathedral
Cradle of Filth
December Moon
Deviated Instinct
Electric Wizard
Fellwarden
Fen
Forefather
Hateful Abandon
Hybernoid
Infestation
Instinct
James Hardway
Jesu
Lawnmower Deth
My Dying Bride
Nordland
Paradise Lost
Pitchshifter
Porcupine Tree
Portishead
Reign of Erebus ...
#music
#admiration
#Britain
203 reads
2 Comments
Vision_of_insanity
Poem Published
12th Feb 2024 7:32pm
12th Feb 2024 7:32pm
Hail to England Part 3
1980's
Amebix
Angel Witch
Annihilated
Anti Nowhere League
Antisect
Asia
Atomkraft
Avenger
Axegrinder
Battlezone
Bauhaus
Bitch’s Sin
Blind Fury
Blitzkrieg
Blood Money
Bolt Thrower
Broken Bones
Carcass
Cardiacs
Cerebral Fix
Chameleons, the
Chaos UK
Chateaux
Cloven Hoof
Coil
Crawling Chaos
Cure, the
Current 93
Dark Star
Darkheart
Death in June
Def Leppard
Demon
Demon Pact
Depeche Mode
Desolation Angels ...
Amebix
Angel Witch
Annihilated
Anti Nowhere League
Antisect
Asia
Atomkraft
Avenger
Axegrinder
Battlezone
Bauhaus
Bitch’s Sin
Blind Fury
Blitzkrieg
Blood Money
Bolt Thrower
Broken Bones
Carcass
Cardiacs
Cerebral Fix
Chameleons, the
Chaos UK
Chateaux
Cloven Hoof
Coil
Crawling Chaos
Cure, the
Current 93
Dark Star
Darkheart
Death in June
Def Leppard
Demon
Demon Pact
Depeche Mode
Desolation Angels ...
#music
#admiration
#Britain
140 reads
12 Comments
Vision_of_insanity
Poem Published
12th Feb 2024 11:27am
12th Feb 2024 11:27am
Hail to England Part 2
1970's
Alan Parsons Project
Argent
Armageddon
Atomic Rooster
Babe Ruth
Bad Company
Baker Gurvitz Army
Barclay James Harvest
Black Sabbath
Black Widow
Blackfoot Sue
Brand X
Brian Eno
Buzzcocks, the
Camel
Caravan
Catapilla
Cirkus
Clash, the
Clear Blue Sky
Colosseum
Comus
Crass
Cressida
Czar
Damned, the
Dirty Tricks
Edgar Broughton
Egg
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Fall, the
Fields
Fire
Foghat...
Alan Parsons Project
Argent
Armageddon
Atomic Rooster
Babe Ruth
Bad Company
Baker Gurvitz Army
Barclay James Harvest
Black Sabbath
Black Widow
Blackfoot Sue
Brand X
Brian Eno
Buzzcocks, the
Camel
Caravan
Catapilla
Cirkus
Clash, the
Clear Blue Sky
Colosseum
Comus
Crass
Cressida
Czar
Damned, the
Dirty Tricks
Edgar Broughton
Egg
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Fall, the
Fields
Fire
Foghat...
#music
#admiration
#Britain
184 reads
10 Comments
DU Poetry : Poems about Britain and being British
#Britain is curated by Northern_Soul.
