polemical poetry to prickle the politics of "permanent austerity"
thistles stretch their prickly arms afar
Frugality
why not empty
the already half-emptied purse
further still? – one could, of course,
conduct frugality tests with
selected guests to fathom who is
likely to survive and who might go under
so, for Santa Clause
a cup of water and a mince pie
sprinkled with sugar-snow
for John Cowper Powys
a cup of tea, two raw eggs
and a slice of bread (butter thinly spread)
for Judas Iscariot a splash of wine
laced with blood, a crumb of bread
and a purse emptied on the floor –
hopeful of being fed helpful hints about
how to be penny-pinching but not
penny-wise, the host receives instead
multi-grains of generosity; seeds of
a sound philosophy, and a grown-up reason
for accepting responsibility for one’s actions
Geoffrey Winch was born and raised in Reading, Berkshire in 1943. Since his poetry first appeared in small press magazines in 1992 he has become widely published both in the UK and USA as well as online. Some of his recent poems have been published in Under the Radar; Ink, Sweat and Tears; Agenda (supplement); Sarasvati, South and South Bank Poetry in the UK; and Bright Star, Haibun Today and Atlas Poetica in the USA. He has been a selections co-editor for South, and in 2011 was ranked the UK’s best small press poet by Purple Patch magazine. He has published two poetry pamphlets: The Morning Light of Dusk (Feather Books, 2004), and Turns Along the Garden Path (Poetry Monthly Press, 2007); and three full collections: Letting the Road-Dust Settle (Indigo Dreams, 2010) which coincided with his final retirement from a career spanning 50 years that encompassed cartography, land surveying and highway engineering; Alchemy of Vision (Indigo Dreams, 2014) which focussed on his lifelong interest in the performing, visual and literary arts; and West Abutment Mirror Images (Original Plus, 2017).’ Since relocating to West Sussex in 2001 he has been involved with a number creative writing groups in the area for whom he also leads occasional workshops, and he is a regular reader at the Chichester Open Mic.