May day

In Competition No. 2959 you were invited to submit a poem on a political theme entitled ‘May day’.

There was a good turnout, but the mood was overwhelmingly bleak despite the efforts of a relentlessly optimistic few, Tim Raikes and Alanna Blake among them. But there was much to admire, including a neat riff from Frank McDonald on Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 (‘Shall Maggie be compared to Theresa May / Who is more cautious and more temperate?’, a ‘Jabberwocky’-inspired submission from Andrew Bamji and Alex Lynford’s clever Blakean turn. Nicholas Hodgson, Martin John, George Simmers, G.M. Davis, John Whitworth and Michael Copeman were on top form too.

The winners are printed below and earn their authors £30 apiece. The extra fiver is Alan Millard’s.

It might be wise to celebrate Theresa May’s success,
Thought Boris, pouring mayonnaise upon his watercress;
The wily, erstwhile London Mayor was keen to make amends
For mayhem caused by mishaps past that duly riled his friends.
It could, mayhap, be politic to flatter her with praise
In lieu of Mayday chaos he’d create in future days.
If angered she would crush him like a May bug underfoot
And, short-lived as a mayfly, his career would go kaput.
He’d laud her as a maya blessed with supernatural might
Or the maypop’s passion flower fruit that tastes of pure delight.
He’d moot a day of maying and afford the realm a chance
To salute her coronation with a festive maypole dance
And thereby crown her May queen, the epitome of style,
The Mayfair shoe shop maven and repentant Europhile.
Thus, by his canny, cunning plan he’d cause no more dismay,
And, maybe, as Prime Minister, be in her shoes one day.
Alan Millard
 
She sets a maypole in the street
outside Hell’s own front door
and friends crowd round to find what treat
their May day has in store.
 
To many she gives ribbons, plus
a smile that scarce conceals
the cold, Home Counties Borgia
in her steel-tipped kitten heels.