I should go to bed
before it gets light,
but there are things
which bother me at night
One of them is hunger -
we are short of food,
nothing in the cupboard
to feed a growing brood
Another is affection,
like "Love's Labour's Lost",
every spurned tenderness -
rejection has a cost
Then there is my skin,
how it bloody thickens
with each blow and insult -
deep inside it sickens
There's a different hunger -
we need to re-arrange
the world that we subsist in;
I'm hungry for the change
Another affection
wells inside of me,
against bigotry and hatred;
for humanity
Sickness is systemic,
or it seems to me,
so - I'll off, away to bed,
dreams can set you free.
Des Mannay is a Welsh writer of color. First poetry collection, "Sod ’em – and tomorrow" published by Waterloo Press. Co-editor of The Angry Manifesto poetry journal. Winner -'rethinkyourmind' poetry competition (2015), LIT-UP poetry competition (2019). 2nd/ highly commended - Disability Arts Cymru poetry Competition (2015). 'Gold Award' - Creative Futures Literary Awards (2015). Shortlisted in 7 competitions, and published in various poetry journals. Work in 26 poetry anthologies.