I am not a gentleman, the title doesn't fit I always thought growing up that I'd get used to it But the collar chafes, the tie chokes, Too much pressure around my throat No I am not a gentleman, however you look at it. I am not a gentleman, manners aren't the key Kindness and compassion have their own transparency A formal letter can destroy Crude kindness still brings joy I am not a gentleman, but I hope you'll forgive me I am not a lady either, it just isn't me. The thought might not have crossed your mind but gender is not what you see. It's what's inside, what you recognise And not what lies between your thighs No I am not a lady but its not a dichotomy. I've seen you study my chin for stubble and scope my chest for breasts Pressure me for answers like it's time I confessed Why do you care what grows and where Only prejudice is shown by your stare When you scour my arms for hairs and search between my legs. No I am not a gentleman the title just doesn't sit Like a borrowed suit, or these forced rhymes, it's a clumsy fit. Gender isn't A or B It's between, beyond, fluid and free These structures are holding us back so I think it's time we stopped. Stopped and thought about what it means What a suit signifies Professionalism or superiority? Elegance or ignorance? Comfort or conformity? Maybe it's my gender but When I see a rich white man sauntering in his tailored suit I don't see it as stylish. All I can see are it's flaws. It's Stained by the engine oil of classism Worn threadbare by the perpetual pressure of sexism Ripped by the violence of racism And this is what we are meant to aim for Who the world is made for. Despite all the traumas and troubles I'm glad my gender let's me see that Don't get me wrong My gender isn't political There is no agender agenda But being outside the boxes that we are sorted into at birth Allows me to see they are cages Cages we build around ourselves Cages we build around each other Cages rusted with age Cages reinforced by our fears But changes we can step out of If we try Men. Release your sensitivity. Free the emotions you have been taught to suppress But know too that you have played the part of the jailer Address the balance Help others with their liberation Become a jail breaker An emancipator Women. Break the cage that holds your rage Be angry, be stroppy, be indignant Assert yourself into those spaces you have been barred from And those like me who are constantly placed in a cage we don't not belong. Find your way out. Find your way to you. The journey can be hard but you will not be alone. We can be each others strength Children. Find your way out of the cage maze Placed around your creativity and curiosity. There is nothing y ou can't be. There is nothing you can't ask. If people are cagey when you ask questions. It is them that are trapped Don't let their fear imprison you.

It might be sunny today but there’s a storm cloud in my head A cloud not created by any turbulence on this Earth. It gathers and rages in between my eyes and my brain Filling my whole world view with a dulling fog It might be sunny today but I don’t think I can go outside The weight in my head is too heavy today, All my strength to lift it from my pillow Where it holds me but does not let me rest It might be sunny today but I don’t want to go outside There’s a whole world waiting for me, expectantly And I don’t think I can pretend any more That I don’t know or that I don’t care Don’t know that I should be doing something more Don’t care that I can see the confusion on your face Don’t know that you don’t understand Don’t care that I’m falling apart again I’m shut in, can’t see the brightness Worn out by my brains endless overdrive Locked in a cycle of frustrations Knocked down but I'm scrambling to get up

The river in flood washes away the debris Something inside thinks of letting it take me But not today Cause here, in this moment, I feel alive The rain pounding the earth, first like it’s knocking at the door But the earth does not answer Then the rain’s pounding like a siege But the earth does not yield And so the water cascades into the river Which in eternal battle has dug out a home The percussion of the river and the rain Drowned out by the thunder. Which rumbles like a waking wolf, Reminding us of its power. All of this floods my senses And the dark part of me is diverted As I see that like the river, I have carved my home Besides which, the river only moves the debris Downstream. I’ll admit I’ve never tried too hard. Maybe I’ve never been pushed I Know I’ve resisted the pull To follow the path cut out for me. But following the stream leads to the same conclusion. No change and nothing new And I know I’d rather watch it go by Than have an easy ride So I’m sitting on the shore and looking for a new way The waters are rising and I know they’ll carry me But even today in the pounding rain When the roads and the rivers are one and the same. I’d like to be able to make the distinction And chose my own path.

Oh come you men, you rugged soldiers Oh come you men with roughened hands Come and cross this raging river Come and cross where it runs wide As we walked my men and me We walked towards our enemy As we walked my men and I A chilling site did meet our eyes The river runs fast and deep The river runs red with blood At part it runs slow and wide A women stands afore astride I stand abreast this ambling river I stand just fore where it runs wide I wash the flesh from bones of soldiers I wash the bones till they are white Approach the women I did slow The truth of this we had to know Approach the women I did dare Alone to meet her deathly stare The women stood on river bed The women stood on bodies dead The women she held out a head Smiled at me and then she said You recognise this head dear soldier You recognise this head as yours These bones I wash are yours dear soldiers The red that runs is your life blood. I ran from her to my lads Told them of the fate we had We ran from there across the land Terror shook our roughened hands But fight we must to save our land And fight we must to save our kin To battle we went with our fate seen To her we went to get our bones cleaned All soldiers know their fate and March onwards anyway Everyone learns their fate but Fights on till the end of days So wander on you rugged soldiers Wander on to battle brave Wander on you troubled children And know I’ll wash your bones till white

Be wary of the elastic romantic He'll deceive you and himself And as much as his love may feel electric His rubber spine can hold no charge. And how will you know the elastic romantic? He'll fit you like a rubber glove But however he bends to fit your form He'll suddenly snap back and out of your arms. And maybe in moments the elastic romantic Will reveal his true form Or maybe he's never without pressure And unknown to even himself And have I loved the elastic romantic No but I've been close enough To see him stretch and contort himself And then I've been caught in the ricochet And if you're ever caught by the elastic romantic May you find a way to get free Before he gets caught up on another poor fool And your world bounces away from you And what will become of the elastic romantic Maybe he'll find his true form Or one who he fits without too much duress So he can rest without feeling the pull But more likely than not, the elastic romantic Will extend himself too far And find he's no longer as flexible And crumble and fall apart.

Oh Sovay all on a day Dressed herself in man's array With a sword and a pistol all by her side To meet her true love, to meet her true love, away did ride As she was riding over the plain She met her true love and bid him to stay "Stand and deliver, kind sir, '' she said "And If an you do not, and if an you do not, I'll shoot you dead'' Once he'd delivered his golden store She said "Kind sir, there's one thing more "That diamond ring, that diamond ring that I hear you wear Hand it over, hand it over, and your life I'll spare'' "From my diamond ring I shall not part It's a token from my sweetheart So shoot and be damned you rogue" said he "And you'll be hanged and you'll be hanged then for murdering me'' On the next morning in the garden green Two lovers there were seen He spied his watch hanging by her clothes It made him blush, made him blush like any rose "Why do you blush at such silly a thing I thought I'd have that diamond ring Twas I who robbed you all on the plain So here's your gold, so here's your gold and your watch again'' "I only did it for to know If you were be true or no If you had given me that ring she said I'd have pulled the trigger I'd pulled the trigger and shot you dead''

Our trajectory Out of austerity Has led us all to anger Hatred gets elected, Anger redirected To tear us all apart The workers scraping by, Taught to hate you and I Who can't work a 40 hour week. And those of us who're white Taught we have a greater right To live in stolen lands The man whose worked for years Taught to hate his female peers If they move up the ladder And the women who excuse Solidarity being refused To trans women out of misplaced fear Don’t get me wrong There’s nothing wrong with anger But we have to stop sometimes and think Who places the targets Who calls the shots And what do they gain from our hate? The worker scraping by Just like you and I Would benefit from a fairer share And those of us who’re white Have to reject the flood of shite That we’ve dined off for so long The man who’s worked for years Needs to look good and clear And see that the ladder is a lie The women who excused Neglecting the abused Need to step out of the doorway Cause by turning on each other We’re just taking turns to smother The flame of our liberation The flame by whose light We’d get a clear sight Of the way our anger should rage Cause we’ve let them direct our hate Forget to try to relate So we’re too exhausted to turn on them So those who wield the power Can keep it a while longer While we fight for the scraps they pass down But if we could come together We could have a chance To smoke them out of their ivory towers And find better ways to all live Without the parasitic burden Of the luxurious thieves Don’t get me wrong It’s hard to have sympathy for the soldier Especially when they’re sniping civilians But who placed the target Who calls the shots Who took a young person stripped their decency Ripped out their compassion Focused their hate Taught them not to question Who keeps us all Aiming downwards When all we really need to do Is throw our hate upwards

I've never written about love. It's not that I've not known it I am overwhelmed by it often For the people in my life who make living appealing And the people in this world Who live their lives with passion I feel the heat With which it burns from afar And the people whose inner strength Could hold back rivers Their strength moves my heart And right now my heavy heart is held in gentle hands And it's not that I've not lost love My hearts not always been held so safe My hearts is damaged and no longer whole Eroded slowly by the global currents of pain Bruised by clumsy handling And scarred by exploitative exploratory mining Which left large hollow chambers And destabilising fractures. It's just that love is so large and changeable It's hard to mould into verses At its best love is a shield, a sturdy defence At its worst it’s a sword, or a barbed wire fence At its best its a remedy, a safe space At its worst an addiction, a bad habit And so a love song is a dangerous thing. For a love song can intoxicate Maybe I'm safe Maybe my words and my voice don't hold the power But sweeping strings can be powerful things. A good soundtrack can make actions seem romantic A man walks in and with no words sweeps a beautiful women off her feet. No words spoken, just a firm forceful kiss. We have been conditioned by the sweet sound of the strings To see this sequence as romantic But without the sound track we hear the truth We hear nothing No permission sought There is no romance in this sequence Without the violin. A love song is a dangerous thing

The greatest heartbreak I've ever known Was caused by The Lady I've never met Her compassion and resilience Made me feel less alone She wielded a subtle and humble strength Defying a regime of absolute power Passivism her chosen tool Even when faced with guns And she suffered for her convictions With two decades of solitude A radio her only company Her vision of peace her only strength And finally her patience was rewarded Change came crawling across the land For a time it started to seem She might bring about her dream Yes my heart is broken by the loss of an idol Unable to heal because there's no way to understand How did this come to be? You were a hero to me Aung San Suu Kyi And then came the stories of the violence Atrocities amounting to genocide One of her countries peoples Were being cleansed from their land And then came her continued dismissal Of the actions of her government Gone was her compassion And any talk of unity And there's no excusing her excuses But I find myself wondering all the same Why would she not speak out for A people she claimed to love Was she forced into a corner No choice but to tow the company line Now she's on the inside Has her strength been tamed Or has her resolve weakened So long fighting without compromise Has the strength of the state Finally asserted its weight Or can she just taste power Convinced herself she can change things for good Does she see these atrocities As simply acceptable strategic losses Or worse, a part of me wonders If her compassion was merely an act Was her only goal To simply gain control Yes my heart is broken by the loss of an idol Unable to heal because there's no way to understand How did this come to be? You were a hero to me Aung San Suu Kyi Pondering these things breaks my heart And I'm just a lost fool looking for an idol I can only imagine the pain of those in Myanmar Who saw her as their compassionate saviour And the bitter disappointment of the remaining Rohingya Who'd heard her speak of unity Who've gone on to suffer such brutality And heard her denying their omnipresent pain Yes my heart is broken by the loss of an idol Unable to heal because there's no way to understand How did this come to be? You were a hero to me Aung San Suu Kyi

Oceans, mountains and apes rise All this happens before the dragon’s eyes The dragon watched the cave carved and moved in Like the world, the dragon did create, the dragon did shape Sculpting the world as it had been, as it will be Sketching the creatures that had been, the creatures that could be And the humans came to the world and to the cave They came to trade, craft for craft and tale for tale But some who came, they came to think That they could gain they could control So they came together And came up with a plan With greed in their minds they came to the cave, they came with chains and took the sky from the dragon And they barred and they chained and they charged the people in gold, they sold the work of the dragon And the gathered the gold, piled in the cave, leaving neither their hoard nor their slave alone And the dragon made sculptures and sketches that the people adored, payment taken and added to the hoard, with no complaint from the dragon As time when on the captors could see that the dragons supplies were running dry They asked, begged, threatened and cajouled , but never once where they told where to get more supplies for the dragon. The dragon merely replied that while there was no way to fly, it would get more supplies before they ran out. But scared of swindling and of dwindling resources they resorted to surrounding the dragon Then one soldier feeling bolder by the strength of their number Forgot they were frail and struck at a scale, awakening them all from their slumber For then it did seem, like a foolish dream that they could keep the dragon detained With iron and might, keep this creature from flight, and as one they all exclaimed. In reaction to this, without growl or hiss, the dragon extended a paw Caught the poor fool with the soft metal tool and held them in front of open jaw. Then from inside came molten tide that filled the whole of the cave Turned bones to char, melted the bars, and the chains of the unresisting slave The dragon watched the cave glow from the sky Came and gathered the melted metals and charcoal to start again

Time may heal all wounds but it takes memories too. So I’d stop time and keep the pain to keep the memories of you And if I could I’d go back and see it all again, See what you’d done before my life had even begun. But time, like tide and truth, is not ours to control Each we must respect however they unfold Each we must remember to help keep us right On each we can fall or be taken to great height Life is like a boat blown on winds unknown We have some control but our fate is not our own. Life is like a language, flowing like a sound Each firmly rooted in others around So when a life is lost, it’s like damage to the weave Others around it are weakened as they grieve Maybe in reparation they can be brought closer still But all will know that the gap can never be filled You leave us things that in many ways were always there, We’d never taken time to appreciate, like none was spare You gave us words and ideas to try comprehend You showed us things aren’t always as they pretend And that the world hasn’t always been the same You showed us that the world can always be changed

Your father swallowed the swaddled stone Your mother risking cruelty unknown All for the love of you oh child All for the Love of you. I know they’re howling like demons and the dead But quiet child, like your mother said So we can keep you safe oh child So we can keep you safe. Their dancing - be scared of it not They’re dancing to keep you from being caught All for the love you your mother we do All for the love of her.

I'm trying to engage with the world around me I'm trying not to take its weight on my shoulders I could be crushed by the weight of your sadness I won't make you have to carry me I'm trying to find ways to be better and happy But I'm trying to appreciate the goodness I have. I could feel better some day in the future But I won't waste my life waiting for that I'm trying to find ways to look after others I'm trying to remember to look after myself I could ignore the troubles around me But I won't become a part of the problem I'm trying to play the governments game I'm trying to play though I know that it's rigged I could fold and let them win But I won't go out without a fight I'm trying to find ways to stand up for others While I'm trying to find ways to stand up for myself I could keep calm and I could carry on But I won't be quiet I won't be moved along I'm trying to find ways to be accepted While ,I'm trying to accept myself I could live and never sing another note But I won't be the one to silence me