Mike Garry
@mikegarry
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poet librarian mancunian father husband uncle brother
Hackney London
Joined June 2009
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My dad was disabled.
On polling day, he’d call the Conservative party office on great western street & they’d give him a lift to the polling station where he’d religiously vote Labour.
Then, he’d get them to drop him at the parkside pub on lloyd st in Moss Side.
I miss him a lot
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My dad was disabled.
On polling day, he’d call the Conservative party office on great western street & they’d give him a lift to the polling station where he’d religiously vote Labour.
Then, he’d get them to drop him at the parkside pub on lloyd st in Moss Side.
I miss him a lot
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Struggling for a lift to vote?
My dad was disabled.
On polling day, he’d call the Conservative party office on Grt Western St & ask for a lift to the polling station where he’d religiously vote Labour.
Then he’d get them to drop him at the Parkside pub on in Moss Side.
I miss him
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I went to college with Caroline.
She was beautiful, funny, engaging, warm, non discriminatory genuine & real.
She smoked 40 cigs a day at 15 & always seemed other worldly.
Thought her documentary last night was incredible.
Craig Cash had me in bits.
Beautiful-RIP caroline Aherne
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My youngest struggled at school.
A slow reader.
Couldn’t remember times tables.
Wasn’t sporty or good at chess/scrabble & wasn’t great at painting or drawing.
She just phoned me to tell me she got a FIRST in her fine art degree.
My heart is bursting pride & I can’t stop crying.
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When’s there gonna be a serious conversation about the amount of cocaine being snorted everyday.
& I’m not talking kids partying.
I’m talking old blokes, mate’s dads having a line in the pub on a Tuesday night. Come on. This is taking place before our very eyes & we’re letting it
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How did mick lynch lose it?
He laughed & joked respectfully with
@MishalHusain
& just laughed at Coogan, I mean Madeley.
The guy is honest, unaffected & doesn’t care what u think about him. Also, would you do his job for £84k?
I stand with mick & the rail workers.
Burn the Sun
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I’m on my own. But I don’t care.
I had a stroke 7 years ago.
An Italian Doctor saved my life.
I stood here for him & all the staff who cared for me.
I support all
@NHSEngland
workers.
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Every footballer should do this before the game. Make the kids feel special cos you were one once.
Our words and actions as adults carry so much weight to a child. Use them kindly. Make them feel special.
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Look at my city
Beauty amongst ugliness
Solid arms wide open
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You should’ve just spoke to me, I let people take my books at gigs, don’t care if you’ve got no money. PayPal me one day when you have got the money and if you never have, enjoy my book.
It’s about the art being in people’s hands & minds.
It’s not always about a tenner.
Really loved
@mikegarry
last night in Stroud. Didn't have any cash on me to buy a book but heading to his website for one now :)
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I kicked my football onto a roof of a posh building. I went in the building to ask for my ball & an incredibly woman welcomed me. I wasn’t used to kind adults.
The room was full of books & she said I could take 4 books home with me.
It changed my life.
It was Fallowfield library.
The Guardian view on local libraries: a resource that must be protected. Libraries: truly wonderful community centres.
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Tony Wilson died 16 years ago today.
If you don’t know who he is, get educated. If you do know who he is, say his name, share his achievements.
As a mark of respect I’m posting Andrew Weatherall’s Remix of St Anthony.
Thanks to
@joeduddell
&
@neworder
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Happy Monday
It’s pissing down
There’s a deadly virus everywhere
United are shit & we’re all unemployed.
But we all have poetry and you are loved.
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I Stand by Marcus.
I hold him up a a symbol of good & kindness.
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Don’t talk about her
Don’t post her clip up
Don’t post her banner waving pictures
Totally ignore her
she’ll be sat in the Red Lion tonight, toast of the boozer.
A Heroine in a small & nasty world. Wash her away like mud &the dirt & the drains & the rats & piss & shit &the sewers
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@terrychristian
@AngelaRayner
They want so much to be like us
To have lived in council houses
played footie on crofts
ate fray bentos
spoke like us
had our album collection
caught buses unexcitedly
jumped turnstiles
Snogged in parks
Brought bottles
minded cars
sold the Pink
smoked at 6
Went home after school
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I watched Mike Leigh’s Peterloo last night. Or was it the 10 O’clock news?
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The most important tweet in the history of
@Twitter
This one tweet will change the lives of millions of kids globally, motivating them to recognise that
The Great Escape isn’t
@TheXFactor
It’s THE LIBRARY
& through reading & self education, they’ll be richer than any footballer
Reading is cool. Books are cool.
That’s it. That’s the tweet 📚
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And the most valuable club in the world has owed me £10k for 7 years for a poem I wrote for them but they refused to pay - they’ve only just taken it off their website this week
But I can afford barristers now so I’m coming back to get you.
Forbes announce Manchester United is the most valuable club in the world, again. $4.12bn.
💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷💷
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Do you think he knew how much he was loved?
I’ve never seen twitter explode with so much sadness & love at the same time.
If you’ve fallen out with someone recently, phone em now. Make up. Life’s too short man!
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What's that on the horizon?
Right - A second wave
Deaths Yesterday
Spain 2
Italy 87
Germany 24
France 52
Turkey 28
Belgium 42
Sweden 84
Portugal 14
Ireland 6
Poland 13
Romania 13
Hungary 8
Netherlands 28
UK 324
Prepare for lockdown
again
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Pissing rain
still dark
8am
Salford school
struggling to find parking space
& late.
Then a young guy in a hi-vis
ushers me into a one
& approaches me
“Thanks”
“Hi Mike, I’m Drew Povey, Headteacher”
Doing car park duty
For God Sake
look after teachers
they look after our kids
The time has arrived where I can no longer sit quietly under the threat of ‘you cannot comment or you will breach your code of conduct’
I’m speaking up for myself but also all the leaders who have been in touch to say the same happened to them
#TakeAStand
Please share everyone
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The girl who lost her unborn child
The boy who was told his gran had died
The mums & dads who cried&cried
As children begged to go outside
The arguments, the screams & shouts stopping teens from going out
In suits & ties with smiling eyes
Eating cheese
Drinking wine
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Always an honour to work with
@BBCMOTD
Well done United. You deserved it.
Unlucky City. You can’t win everything.
Manchester won today
A football city never bettered
Every trophy no delusion
Won by 2 clubs both Mancunian
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the beach will always be there
the hills will always be there
the shops will always be there
the person you are missing, will always be there
but if you go to the beach, the hills or the shops, the person you are missing might disappear forever
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I never thought people like me wrote poetry.
I didn’t think I was well educated enough.
Then I saw these guys on
@GranadaReports
& it changed my whole concept of “What Poetry Is”
but I never thought I’d share a stage with them
& I never thought I’d make Linton smile
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Someone Else's Daughters
The prince that could not sweat
shows no regret
of time on jets & teenage sex
The prince whose pores are dry
just sat & lied
about paedophiles & sleazy nights
The arrogance of the rich
who think it's fit
to treat kids like this
& get away with it
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Big red as well & I know for a fact that his solo tour was arranged around United away games.
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Did a gig in Soho.
Guy with a beard comes up to me after & says.
“Loved that Mike. Brilliant.
Would you mind if I did a remix of the St Anthony track?”
This was the result.
Nice to think it is booming in heavens canteen & Tony & Andrew dancing on the table
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Don’t know why
But I keep filling up
With sadhappy tears
Every time I hear the words of
Marcus Rashford.
Chuck in the impassioned pleas of Andy Burnham and my heart just explodes.
Makes me feel proud
To be a Man
Cunian.
#godisamanc
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Please support your library.
Probably the most important building in a young persons life.
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I’ve watched people I love do 18hr days in their own homes, using their own laptops/phones/printer etc whilst home educating their kids & battle with their own & their loved ones sanity
& this Eton educated buffoon talks of “Back to Work”
Did you vote for him?
Hang your head low
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honoured to be touring the world with the probably our greatest living poet
@official_jcc
We're in Canada now and tonight we play Lees Place and boy do we like our cake.
Hey Clarkie, "get back on drugs you fat fuck"
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Been asked for the text to the poem that opened
@BBCMOTD
Thinking of doing a mad Karaoke in Albert Square.
Come on, sing along now.
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Friday.
Made it.
Another week of watching the privileged tell us what’s good for us while they do what’s good for them & fishy jokes in empty chambers leave fishermen broken.
Meanwhile a working class kid from Wythenshawe feeds & reads to the nations kids.
Keep going
You’re ace
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Lads ffs.
Basics.
If you’re on a crammed bus with standing room only & an elderly lady gets on.
Stand the fuck up.
At least 8 lads in seats with headphones & screen eyes.
I was just about to publicly curse them when a Spanish lady offered her a seat.
I was embarrassed to be male
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Take me out tonight
Where there’s music and there’s people and they’re young and alive
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This is my great uncle.
He was a dude. Just visited his grave in my father’s homeland.
Me &
@official_jcc
are playing at the Black Box Theatre in Galway tonight. We love Ireland cos Ireland proper gets us.
The sun is shining & you are beautiful.
Mass at half ten
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Happy Birthday
@lemnsissay
Grew up watching lemn perform, then saw him on a packed train to Edinburgh 28 years ago.
I had my 2 year old in my arms. He didn’t know me but he waved from packed doorway & gave me his seat. From that day all I’ve ever wanted to show Lemn is ❤️&🙏 x
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Can I ask everyone I know to do a bit of reading around the cladding scandal currently taking place.
Imagine buying a gaff for £150k
Then Grenfell happens & suddenly your place is worthless & costing you grands
#EndOurCladdingScandal
Get behind this campaign
Please share widely
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I’m back again today.
I support all NHS workers striking today.
It ain’t about money.
It’s about privatisation.
It’s about privileges for the few.
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On in Nantwich with
@official_jcc
tonight.
I swear to god, I’ve never seen him so good & perform so well.
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Eternal rest
Grant unto him Oh Lord
& let perpetual light shine upon him
May he rest in peace
Amen
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@shaunpryce
Bullshit that he did it or bullshit that I miss him?
He did do it, honest.
And I do miss him.
It’s his anniversary today- 19 years.
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The most beautiful woman in Salford sends tommy robinson packing - i SALUTE YOU, madam
Tommy Robinson thinking he can use Salford as a recruiting ground and getting seen off by this woman is 👏 so 👏 good 👏
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To any kids leaving school today
Congratulations
You are amazing.
I don’t care if you’ve passed exams, played for the school football team, was a member of the chess club. You are heroic to have simply got through.
Walk tall - stand proud
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Twelve years gone today.
His name is a palimpsest across the city.
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Take
Me
Out
Tonight
Because
I
Want
To
Hear
Music
And
I
Want
To
See
Life
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Sat up till 4am watching
Mr Bates & The Post Office.
Cried & cried & cried.
The big man shitting on the little fella. I fought all my life against it. You should too. In the classroom the workplace, the pub.
It’s bullying in the true sense of the word.
Like wars.
Peace&love 🙏
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Show me a dad
From the north of England
Down on his luck &
In charge of the kids for a day.
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Never really cried about Tony before but I wept throughout this. Brilliant, honest & from the heart thanks
@terrychristian
mathew Paris & paul Morley. Take 27 minutes out today to learn about Tony wilson.
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Good job a Wythenshawe lad was running the game last night.
Anthony Taylor, I applaud thee.
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cancel all school curriculum and have a focus on READING and the arts for the rest of the year - watch how much smarter our kids become
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All my life I’ve waited for someone of this stature to say those words.
Teachers and anyone who works with young people - here is your armoury.
Use his words. Pin his face & words to every school Wall in the country.
Now go and spread the word.
Reading is cool. Books are cool.
That’s it. That’s the tweet 📚
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Friday.
You made it.
another week of not knowing
Of feeling shaky, skeptical, unclear, uncertain, hesitant, indecisive, suspicious, mistrustful, dubious, undecided, distrustful, unconvinced, borderline, fly-by-night.
But we keep going
knowing,
This will end & you’re doing great.
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I had a massive stroke three years ago today.
thank you to the
@NHSEngland
& the Italian doctor who save my life.
THANK GOD FOR IMMIGRANTS
this country would be lost without them.
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I had a massive stroke five years ago today.
I'd like to thank Dr Gamble + all staff at Wythenshawe Hospital for taking actions that saved my life.
4 months before my stroke, i worked with
@StrokeAssocNW
to make this film
Please share + take care today
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This will end.
Keep the faith
Maintain hope
Be charitable.
Ignore the conspiracist.
Accept that governments are useless. Establish your own politic and stick to it.
You are loved.
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Bit different reaction to when Bukayo, Marcus & Jadon missed their penalties.
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Factory
Fame
Financial fuck ups
Poetic form and the Fall
4th of June 1976 @ the lesser free trade hall
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I’m with mick lynch.
He’s the coolest union leader I’ve ever seen and he doesn’t care about the celebrity narcissistic interviewers who think the world must revolve around them
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went to college with caroline - she was beautiful and funny and smoked forty cigs a day then.
She went out with my mate Greeney for years who smoked as many fags as she did.
Greeny died a year after caroline
Hope they're up there now in the smokers common room in the sky
RIP G+C
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Age 14, I used to buy £2 bags of bush from Dog the Dealer. He hid his stash in the piano. Thursday, personal issue day,the barmaid would strip on stage as a special treat for locals. I was also mugged outside just after I’d been paid £60 for painting Morriseys Dads living room.
The Robin Hood pub, Upper Lloyd Street, Moss Side. Plays a small part in my new book ‘All You Need is Dynamite: Acid, the Angry Brigade, and the End of the Sixties’. Couldn't believe when my researches led me here...
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To all those slagging
@jeremycorbyn
Ok, the general public couldn’t buy into his ideas & dreams but fundamentally they were good & for the many.
Don’t criticise him.
Let’s maintain some kind of dignity & respect for a hard working man & accept that some people just can’t dream
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I know I stand on stages & read poems but this is my real job. Going round tough but beautiful schools stating the obvious-read & you will be happier & richer.
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The prince who could not sweat
Shows no regret
Of teenage sex & private jets
The duke who sat and lied
Chose to deprive
A teenage life
Of what is right
The hand around the waist
The smiling face
Watch this space
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This image taught me what the word “aspire” meant.
I was one of six children in an Irish immigrant household.
I’d never been taken out for tea before.
It seemed so glamorous.
I wanted to go out for tea with my mam and dad.
I still do.
#BookIllustrationOfTheDay
is by Judith Kerr - surely one of the most beloved picture book images, from The Tiger Who Came To Tea (1968). Love this time of year, going out, dark early, lights all on. The heightened sense of adventure is perfectly captured in resplendent colour!
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It was the weekend before its release.
I was playing football in Liverpool. I jumped a train to Euston & met Mozza at his gaff.
Raced to BBC for interview with Janice long then, a gig in Colchester.
We sat up all night, going through every track & talking lyricspoems&music
was 18
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Dear Mr Mckinley,
Remember when you said I’d “amount to nothing” or be
“a bin man at best” during our careers lessons in 5th year?
Well, I’m a Doctor of Education now & on
@LondonPalladium
tonight.
I’ll be looking up to the stars tonight and wondering if you can see me, smiling.
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I’m in a cab on my way to the
@BridgewaterHall
What an honour to play in the greatest venue in the city. No matter how old or experienced I am, I don’t take nights like this for granted & I thank everyone who has ever supported me in anyway- I wouldn’t be in this cab without you
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This is john cooper clarke performing live now, this is live & online, now. There is a small audience and most importantly,there is a spirit in the room.
Live events can take place if they are done properly. Well done
@ColchesterArts
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It's 12 years since Tony Wilson died tomorrow &
@shaunwkeaveny
wants a 6 min track to play on his show this afternoon so he can get off & catch his train
I think he should play this
Do you?
If so, tell him.
Saint Anthony Saint Anthony please come round
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Mr Bates & The Post Office & the furore it has caused proves one thing.
Only art can truly communicate the issues that people care about.
Writers poets actors painters etc
How many newspapers, magazines, tv, radio news, interviews covered it.?
We didn’t really listen did we?
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Marcus Rashford is a God.
He feeds your kids and reads them books.
A beautiful soul that radiates warmth & kindness. A breath of cool air, beauty amidst so much ugliness.
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Thank you DJHelen Thompson for your vision.
Thank you
@orbitalband
for your music.
Thank you
@DavidHolmes____
for your remix
Thank you
@losey9168
for your video.
Thank you
@RoseMarley1
for your guidance
Please share this, it’s a collaborative masterpiece.
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Clocks change as time rages on
Back or forth?
Towards summer of course
To rekindle sunshine moments past
To dredge warmth from memory banks
Like sand in pockets of summershorts
or photos of couples with sunset backdrops
Happy winter once more
You can do this
You’ve done it before
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Are you between 11-17
Write poems on your own
But no-one knows
Cos it’s a secret.
Do me a favour
Share it. Don’t keep it to yourself.
Share it.
Send it to these guys.
No one will know.
And it might kickstart a writing career you never could’ve imagined
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Take
me
out
tonight
because
I
want
to
see
people
and
I
want
to
see
life
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Thanks for the kind messages about the opening poem for BBC FA CUP FINAL
it’s here
& I’d love it if
@GaryLineker
&
@MicahRichards
would share the original poem about Tony Wilson & put to music by
@joeduddell
& inspired by
@neworder
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What an Honour.
Yesterday
#CBeebiesBedtimeStories
was LIVE at
@BBCGlasto
& I read some stories & poems in the Story tent in the Kidzfield
@CBeebiesHQ
It’s important that kids hear men reading. Come on Dads, Uncles, big brothers, get reading to the little ones.
Do it today.
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31 years ago today.
I was walking to the bus stop on Oxford Rd. It was dark & pissing rain.
I stared across at the newspaper salesman outside the Shady Lady & saw this headline.
I ran across Oxford Rd in tears & ripped it from the newsstand & ran.
I knew history was happening
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Name a living Mancunian to have world both world cup and european cup?
You can't - only one man ever did it
He's probably man to man marking Duncan
in Wembley Heaven
RIP Norbert Stiles
The Collyhurst Champion
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Starving frozen grandparents discovered dead on sofas.
Frozen families fried in council houses from the falling candles & makeshift fires.
Newborn hands unpeeled from cot bars.
SHELL make £10 billion in profits.
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War on drugs?
Start with Ale. Worst drug in the world. The quiet destruction it causes behind the net curtains of the middle classes but it’s ok, it’s sold on every street corner, shop and garage and everyone’s in the pub on the TV
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All that rain
Every single drop
Multiplied by 100,000
Tears for Denise
Cry today
But, tomorrow live life like everyday is your last
Cos it just might be.
#denisejohnson
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performed on the Avalon stage
@glastonbury
last night with
@official_jcc
But I’m more excited about this evening. I’m reading bedtime stories for CBeebies. Come see me, bring your mam & dad
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Poor Eamon Holmes. He reminds me of my Dad when he discovered "Police Squad" was a spoof after watching it for three months.
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Happy Monday
New week
New Prime Minister
New cuts
New austerity
Cold breakfast
Damp clothes on the bus
Pasta diet
1 tea bag for 2 brews
Cold evenings & power cuts
Kids crying
School trips & dinner money
When does this end
When does this all end.
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Never got bonfire night. Why we’d burn a man who tried to blow up parliament, I’ll never know. I’d put him on the new £50.
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It put real people on TV
Giving an honest portrayal of Dysfunctional lifestyles like ours not “The Good Life”.
It championed working class voices & put authenticity at the heart of everything. It put fire in our bellies & the words “No, I’m not having it”on our lips.
RIP Bernard
‘Boys from the Blackstuff’ was massive in my early life. God love you, Bernard Hill. 💙
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Happy Birthday Prince Charles.
Never had a job.
Never polished his shoes.
Never washed the dishes.
Never cooked the dinner.
Never caught a bus.
Never gave a beggar a quid.
Never been the Chippy.
Never picked the kids up from school.
70 years in a privileged bubble paid for by us
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Spent the day with looked after children.
So humbling.
Thought my upbringing was tough. Ha!
These kids are climbing mountains & swimming through shark infested water every day & that’s before they even get to school.
Give kids time.
A smile. A nod.
It makes their day.
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