I mind as ‘ow the night afore that show
Us five got talking – we was in the know,
‘Over the top to-morrer; boys, we’re for it,
First wave we are, first ruddy wave; that’s tore it.’
‘Oh well,’ says Jimmy – an’ ‘e’s seen some scrappin’ –
‘There ain’t more nor five things as can ‘appen;
Ye get knocked out; else wounded – bad or cushy;
Scuppered; or nowt except yer feeling mushy.’
One of us got the knock-out, blown to chops.
T’other was hurt, like, losin’ both ‘is props.
An’ one, to use the word of ‘ypocrites,
‘Ad the misfortoon to be took by Fritz.
Now me, I wasn’t scratched, praise God Almighty
(Though next time please I’ll thank ‘im for a blighty),
But poor young Jim, ‘e’s livin’ an’ ‘e’s not;
‘E reckoned ‘e’d five chances, an’ ‘e’s ‘ad;
‘E’s wounded, killed, and pris’ner, all the lot –
The ruddy lot all rolled in one. Jim’s mad.
Wilfred Owen, The Chances
#235: Educate, agitate, organise: David Ridley on educational inequality ● Heba Taha on Egypt at 100 ● Independent Sage and James Meadway on two years of Covid-19 ● Eyal Weizman on Forensic Architecture ● Marion Roberts on Feminist Cities ● Tributes to bell hooks and Anwar Ditta ● Book reviews and regular columns ● And much more!
And you choose how much to pay for your subscription...
Diane Langford recalls some of her most memorable experiences of feminist organising, union activism and solidarity campaigning
Reflecting on two years of Covid-19, James Meadway lays out the challenges the British left will have to adapt to and confront
Tommy Greene maps the wider context of the momentous recent Stormont election results
The term represents a wider establishment discourse which is being used to guide the UK in an increasingly conservative direction, argues Daniel Eales
As the local elections get underway, Red Pepper's Simon Hedges shares his own experiences with the trials and tribulations of electoral politics
After years of false allegations, former Mayor Lutfur Rahman is running on a radical program to tackle the cost of living crisis. Ashok Kumar reports