Even Worse Government
Gale Burns

after Bad New Government by Emily Berry

Love, like a nightmare repeated I woke to an even worse government; the fridge light is broken, so who knows what’s there, and my heart, under strain, seems to beat with a start I begin the day like a walker without any shoes I want to pace purposefully and email you about happy circumstances: the sunlight streaming into the front room, the eco-poetry night last night, and the growing sweet peas, but today I can hardly bear to draw the curtains and all food tastes like gruel

You are not here of course – I know things have been strained, but when I think of refuge I think of you; when I think of taking action, I am doing it with you. Later I will call to tell you about the same Prime Minister, his ‘unstoppable plans’, and about how I can no longer write anything apolitical which is also (even more than ever) about my love for you.

Gale Burns is writer in residence at both Sydenham Arts Festival and Kingston University London, where he teaches Creative Writing. He convenes the Shuffle poetry series at the Poetry Cafe, London, and was a 2012 Hawthornden Fellow. He has three pamphlets, the latest Opal Eye is published by Eyewear. His work has been translated into French, Arabic and Slovenian. He is related to Emile Burns, who wrote for the Morning Star in the last century, and is the grandson of the historian Cecil Delisle Burns. At different times he has been an NHS Counsellor, a telephonist and a street sweeper.

Well Versed is edited by Jody Porter – wveditor@gmail.com
Connect with Well Versed on Facebook.