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Yorkshire Bylines
Home Opinion

Walking with James*

“What are you rebelling against?” – “Whaddya got?” (Rebel Without A Cause)

Steve Pottinger by Steve Pottinger
24-09-2025 11:54
in Opinion, Poetry, Politics
Reading Time: 2 mins read
A A
a head and shoulders image of actor James Dean, with added colourful brushstrokes

Image by Arthur Halucha from Pixabay

Share on Bluesky
Things I’m against? Here’s a selection.
Bad breath. Fascists. Cross-infection.
Warm fizzy lager. Cold public baths.
Slugs under bare feet. Complex maths.
Litter-strewn beaches at low tide.
Folk committing genocide.

Barbed wire. Bovril. Radio 1.
The space that is left when somebody’s gone.
Tuesday blues on Friday night.
Drunks out looking for a fight.
Mars bars that have been deep-fried.
Folk committing genocide.

Dental appointments. The Daily Heil.
TV hosts with a grifter’s smile.
Poorly functioning frontal lobes.
Racists. Rapists. Homophobes.
Acetone. Formaldehyde.
Folk committing genocide.

Chelsea fans and Chelsea tractors.
Right-wing-leaning failing actors.
Performative ignorance. Unwanted flags.
Golf bores in Porsches and Beemers and Jags.
Double denim, tie-dyed.
Folk committing genocide.

Chitterlings. Trotters. Kidneys. Tripe.
Squeezing a spot that isn’t quite ripe.
Budgie smugglers. Badger baiters.
Potholes deep as lunar craters.
A disappointing donkey ride.
Folk committing genocide.

Rush-hour traffic. Crowded trains.
Bricked-up windows. Backed-up drains.
Ardent royalists. Avon cosmetics.
Constipation. Wind. Emetics.
A mouldy loaf of Mother’s Pride.
And folk committing genocide.


©Steve Pottinger. 21 September 2025

*(actually that quote was Marlon Brando!)

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Steve Pottinger

Steve Pottinger

Steve is a poet, author, and a founding member of Wolverhampton arts collective Poets, Prattlers, and Pandemonialists. His work has appeared in magazines and anthologies, and he’s a regular contributor to online poetry platforms. You can discover more of his work via his website, on X @BigStevePoet, or follow him on Bluesky

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