June Rhymes with Orange was awesome and I had the best time talking about cultural capital and German MTV ;-)

This poem was first written for the 8th birthday of Rhymes With Orange poetry night. It wound up longer than time allotted, so we now publish the full version. CW: second world war, racism and racist violence, colonialism, police abuse, cycle of violence, disability, racist prejudice in the workplace, discussion of alcoholism and trauma.

Here's my video from our first pre-recorded gig. The theme was Nightmares. To see the full performance, go to Rhymes With Orange Facebook page! 0:00 Pre-Gig Prayer 01:37 Being An Online Poet 03:47 This Poem Is For You 05:38 Birds 07:44 Nightmares (Knocking At Your Door) 09:40 Oblivious

Poem on failing at minimalism.

Me: hurray, a gig! Headcold: oh HAI. Anxiety: your poems are weird. And this one is unfinished. Voice: I'll just be scratchy over here, don't mind me. Me: (undeterred) Hurray, a gig!

An improvisation, based on poem created during a slam poetry workshop with John Paul O'Neill. Guitar and illustration - Kevin Plummer Text and vocals - Rita Suszek The Living Songbook is an improvising songwriting duo. Find us Facebook, Twitter and Wordpress! www.thelivingsongbook.wordpress.com https://www.facebook.com/thelivingsongbook

This video is not meant to convey an exact message. Those of you who watch my social media know that I lean towards the Remain vote. But the point is that we've allowed the conversation to get wildly out of control. We need engaged communities and fear management - whether we stay in EU or not.