Something incredible happened today: the Twitterati – used to passing mob justice on telly, celebs and politics – turned their attention to poetry. More specifically a poem in the London Review of Books by Craig Raine.
How Mr S’s heart leapt as he saw Raine’s name trending up there with Andy Coulson and #NationalRunningDay, could it be that an English poet was proving more popular than the Kardashians?
Alas not. There had not been a significant boost in the cultural tastes of the keyboard warriors. Instead they were raging after poetry critic Charles Whalley tweeted Raine’s poem ‘Gatwick’, describing it as ‘grim’. The poem describes his attraction to a young woman. It includes the line ‘I want to say I like your big bust’:
While Mr S is yet to hear back from Whalley as to whether it was the poem’s content or overall quality that gave him cause for complaint, the usual suspects have declared it evil that an artist has dared to challenge the views of the public:
Mr S would suggest these delicate flowers avoid Raine’s earlier and more explicit work. Especially the one about sodomy. It might break the internet otherwise!
The national Covid-19 inquiry rumbles slowly onwards. Module 8, examining the impact of the pandemic on children and young people, drew to a close last month. Blast-from-the-past appearances from Matt Hancock and Boris Johnson meant the decision to shut schools and stop exams from going ahead for the best part of two years was subjected
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