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Liam O'Dell
Oct 06, 2022
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Roses are red, violets are blue, Twitter users are celebrating National Poetry Day by creating poems about all the terrible blunders the Conservative government manages to do.
That one probably needs work, but the first Thursday of October sees the UK celebrate the art of poetry and “encourages everyone to make, experience and share poetry with family and friends” in an initiative founded by the Forward Arts Foundation in 1994.
A description of the awareness day on its official website reads: “Each year we come together because voices, words and stories help to bridge understanding in our community.
“National Poetry Day generates an explosion of activity nationwide, thousands of amazing events across the UK – on doorsteps and at kitchen tables, in gardens and streets, in schools, libraries and public spaces both online and offline – all celebrating poetry’s power to bring people together.
“The day starts conversations, it encourages love of language and, best of all, it’s open to absolutely everyone to join in.”
And looking at social media, it also prompts people to find a new creative way to tear into Tories:
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\u201cA girl who like to grow pie\nWas often heard telling a lie\nShe ensured that the wealthy\nremained fit and healthy\nWhile the poor could piss off and die\n#NationalPoetryDay\u201d— Parody Prime Minister (@Parody Prime Minister) 1665058082
\u201cRoses are red,\nBills are mounting,\nGovernment need to step up\nAnd sort out their accounting\n \n#NationalPoetryDay\u201d— Good Law Project (@Good Law Project) 1665044694
\u201cWhen I tweet about Jacob Rees-Mogg,\nI try to be quite direct.\nBut my phone thinks he a ducking aunt,\nthanks to autocorrect.\n\n#NationalPoetryDay\u201d— Amanda (@Amanda) 1665058152
\u201cLabour is red\nTories are blue\nI crashed the pound\nAnd the economy too\n#NationalPoetryDay\u201d— Parody Prime Minister (@Parody Prime Minister) 1665050306
\u201cSeeing as it\u2019s National Poetry Day\u2026\n\nIt\u2019s simply called \u2018Arghhhhhhhh\u2019\n\nA bus full of lies \nA Truss quoting pies\nAn interest rate rise\nand dark oligarch ties\n\nNHS staff starving \nBenefits halving \nYour wealth fast departing \nExcept Truss and Kwarteng \n\n#NationalPoetryDay\u201d— Stuzi from the #AntiGrowthCoalition \ud83d\udc1d\ud83d\udc1d\ud83d\udc1d (@Stuzi from the #AntiGrowthCoalition \ud83d\udc1d\ud83d\udc1d\ud83d\udc1d) 1665046606
\u201cAppointing Prime Minister Truss,\nCaused nothing but chaos & fuss,\nShe rewarded the greedy,\nAt the expense of the needy,\nAnd threw us all under a bus.\n#NationalPoetryDay\u201d— Phlegm Clandango (@Phlegm Clandango) 1665070218
\u201cHere\u2019s a wee new poem for #NationalPoetryDay\u201d— R L FLORENCE (@R L FLORENCE) 1665070994
There were weird and wonderful poems on other subjects, too:
\u201cIt\u2019s #NationalPoetryDay, so you know what that means\u201d— Hare-Em Scare-Em \ud83c\udf83\ud83d\udc7b\u2728 (@Hare-Em Scare-Em \ud83c\udf83\ud83d\udc7b\u2728) 1665039727
\u201cHappy #NationalPoetryDay! This year\u2019s theme is the environment so here\u2019s a poem called \u2018Every day the planet burns a little more\u2019.\u201d— Brian Bilston (@Brian Bilston) 1665039909
\u201c\u201cI dig, \nyou dig, \nwe dig, \nhe digs, \nshe digs, \nthey dig"\n\nIt's not a beautiful poem, but it's very deep...\n\n#NationalPoetryDay\u201d— The Dad Joke Man (@The Dad Joke Man) 1665044653
\u201cNational Poetry Day Poem (just written) - click on it to see the whole poem, as it's 'clipped' the top and bottom off here:\u201d— Michael Rosen \ud83d\udc99\ud83d\udc99\ud83c\udf93\ud83c\udf93 (@Michael Rosen \ud83d\udc99\ud83d\udc99\ud83c\udf93\ud83c\udf93) 1665035959
\u201cThe School Band\n___________________________\n\nMost children played recorder\nViolin was played by some \nOne or two were piano\nWhilst others learned to drum\n\nBut I was never eager\nTo be part of the pack \nSo I stood with my halloumi \nAnd squeaked it at the back\n\n #NationalPoetryDay\u201d— Olaf Falafel (@Olaf Falafel) 1665048564
And it isn’t the only time that someone has used a poem to take aim at a politician, as Hocus Pocus actress Bette Midler penned a very NSFW poem about then-president Donald Trump in August 2019.
We’d offer up a poem ourselves, if we were in a position to care, but it’s perfectly fine as we’ve run out of time, so we think we’ll leave it there.
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