poetry

the orange fish is softer and warmer than you

| Sheree

let me embrace the orange fish. the orange fish compliments my dress.

compliments my wanting lips and heart, much better, much softer than you.

as i hold my heart in haste and protection, let me embrace something that is willing

more open to my grace than you. i thought i made myself clear, i’m not here to

stare into cold glass eyes, twisted thoughts and warps hands and heart.

let the wind blow through my hair and take all promises of you away too.

the rooms may be empty but this orange fish will make me warmer,

sacred love

| Sheree

listen to your heart. allow the serpent to wrap itself around you.

there’s danger yes, risk. but also joy and pleasure to have.

let go, don’t hold on to tight. let the apples fall where they fall.

just savour the h=juicy connection, the meeting of bodies and mind.

be your full self. it is them who cannot not handle your full heart.

the rot is theirs not yours.

affairs of the heart

| Sheree

i enter the arena on my own terms

looking for what, i do not know

but I’m open and caring, wise and full

the reveal i did not see coming, the betray

harsh and bitter like garlic, it was his insecurities

still i’m the one pinned to the board

like a specimen, like a freak, like a crushed butterfly

Black People’s Day of Action, 2 march 1981

| Sheree
Graham Turner, in Resistance, Steve McQueen

“13 Dead, Nothing Said”, the rallying cry rings out.

walking with dignity, arm in arm, a protest, not a riot nor a mob.

a powerful display of unity and resistance. “13 Dead, Nothing Said”,

in the face of adversity. of racism, police conduct, and social justice,

the New Cross Massacre Action Committee respond.

treating black victims as criminals themselves, “13 Dead, Nothing Said”.

on 18 January 1981, Yvonne Ruddock celebrated her 16th birthday with friends,

when a fire tore through 439 New Cross Road in south-east London.

“13 Dead, Nothing Said”.

community solidarity, in the midst of racial tensions and police mishandling,

they marched, 20.000 strong, from the scene of the fire

to the Houses of Parliament to present a petition. “13 Dead, Nothing Said”.

the loss of young black lives barely noted by the media,

no words of condolence from maggie, and to this day, no one

has ever been charged with starting the fire. “13 Dead, Nothing Said”.

who has #womensrights?

| Sheree
Neil Kenlock, 1970, Resistence Exhibition, Steve McQueen, 2025

In March the United Nations issued a report about Israel’s systematic use of sexual, reproductive and other forms of gender-based violence against Palestinian women since October 2023.

Those who shout long and hard about #womensrights have said fuck all about this abuse.

Perpetuating a system of oppression through gender-based violence and undermining self-determination is not coincidental.

But those who profess to be standing up for #womensrights say nothing.

Sexual and gender-based violence perpetuated across the Occupied Palestinian Territory is a strategy of war by Israel to demoralise and destroy Palestinians.

Those who shout long and hard about #womensrights have said fuck all about this abuse.

Israeli forces have destroyed sexual and reproductive healthcare facilities across Gaza. Medical support and equipment for safe pregnancies, postnatal care and neonatal care are decimated.

But those who profess to be standing up for #womensrights say nothing.

Women’s and girl’s reproductive right and autonomy as well as their right to life, health and dignity have been erased.

And yet these people, mostly white women, such as JK Rowling, who harp on about #womensrights and the so called threats posed by transgender people, say nothing about the Palestinian women and girls who are subjected to violence right now.

The deliberate starvation by Israel of Palestinian people has a devastating effect on pregnant women resulting in anaemia, malnutrition, miscarriages, stillbirths and undernourished newborns as lactating women cannot produce enough milk.

And yet these people here for #womensrights say nothing.

It would seem that those who claim to be champions of #womenrights pick and choose who has rights as women, fuck it, as human beings.