Raymond Antrobus
First we laughed with prickly legs
and stubble beards at police
in polished riot vans.
Then we laughed
shivering like candles
at the Prime Minister’s heated
swimming pool. We carried
our laughter like The Big Issue
and hurled it at the Education
Minister and his ten-thousand-
pound Rolex. When they took
our right to laugh we laughed
in our passport photos so we couldn’t
leave our country. We gathered
laughing in Trafalgar Square,
painted laughing lions
on placards as experts
appeared on radio
and TV to voice
the natural inferiority of laughter,
the infectious killer jokes.
The broadcasts were eaten up
by our laughter, which roared
around the world
while the suits spoke
of the dangers of dying
in fits of laughter
and some of us held
the sharp splits
of our sides
and gasped
Raymond Antrobus is the author of To Sweeten Bitter (2017, Out-Spoken Press), The Perseverance (2018, Penned In The Margins) All The Names Given (2021, Picador) and the children’s picture book Can Bears Ski? (2020, Walkers Books).
Call to action: I hope this poem inspires anyone doubting the power of people affecting change. I hope we keep our progressive spirits alive, especially in the face of a hostile environment, cost of living crisis and apathetic politicians. Keep signing petitions, attending rallies, curating communities while making and sharing art that expresses the reality of our struggle and the possibility of our liberation. And if you are looking for a writing and literature community, get involved in the Conversations With Baldwin workshops, happening nationally across the UK: https://wordsofcolour.co.uk/conversations-with-baldwin/