Month: June 2026

A poem for World Refugee Day

Selected poems

Refugees

They have no need of our help
So do not tell me
These haggard faces could belong to you or me
Should life have dealt a different hand
We need to see them for who they really are
Chancers and scroungers
Layabouts and loungers
With bombs up their sleeves
Cut-throats and thieves
They are not
Welcome here
We should make them
Go back to where they came from
They cannot
Share our food
Share our homes
Share our countries
Instead let us
Build a wall to keep them out
It is not okay to say
These are people just like us
A place should only belong to those who are born there
Do not be so stupid to think that
The world can be looked at another way

(now read this poem from the bottom upwards)

It’s showtime

News

I’m out and about reading poems at various literary festivals this week, starting with Leek on Wednesday, then Chester on Thursday. They’re both sold out but there are still tickets available for my show at the Nottingham Poetry Festival on Saturday should that be of interest to you. Tickets for that are on sale here: https://www.gigantic.com/nottingham-poetry-festival-tickets/nottingham-metronome-nottingham/2026-06-06-19-00

I’ll be at the Edinburgh Fringe for the last week of August, the Morecambe Poetry Festival in early September – and then have a 45-date tour in the autumn with my new book ‘How to Lay an Egg with a Horse Inside’. Both Oxford shows, one of the Bellaghy shows, Corsham and Loughborough have now sold out. There are a handful of tickets left for Pocklington, Helmsley, Deal and Colchester, while London, Leeds, Manchester, Bristol, Exeter and Liverpool are all selling quickly.

Finally, I’ve got a couple of poetry + music gigs with the brilliant Catenary Wires over the summer. We’re in London on 9th July and then in Cambridge on 25th July alongside Dr John Cooper Clarke and a raft of other brilliant poets.

A list of all my events, plus links to tickets can be found here: https://brianbilston.com/events/