Punk Site Poetry With Cherry B: The Gammon & The Snowflake

Cherry B is our punked up pumped up performance poet, who has been described as the The Punk Pam Ayers and The Cockney Cooper Clarke, she has returned with The Gammon and the Snowflake, her latest exclusive poem for The Punk Site. Cherry B had this to say about the poem “This is a modern fable! I love old fables and love modernising them, because the story is still the same. This is very relevant especially to do with Gary Lineker who has been outed for speaking the truth.”

Now I know what you’re thinking? And assuming the moral of this tale?

Like a modern day fable, where the good face the ner’de well.

As a nation we are torn, not sure what road to take,

Are we labelled as a bigot or a trembling snowflake.

The tabloids are the promoters of labels set to scare

Building up the tension, igniting the flare.

There’s always opposition and enemies to face,

Like the tortoise and the hare, in their righteous race.

For those that think they’re better, middle class and shrew

Who look to criticise and look down on you.

Who assume that they will always, win the draw.

And never think with compassion and live above the law.

The snowflake lives a life of empathic sight,

Inhabits the left wing and never the right.

They think about their actions and equality for all,

Kindness is their weapon, the arms they bring to call.

Is it weak to care and be considerate of others?

carrying membership and all that it covers. 

Yet the gammon, roasts, in its own body fat.

Swimming in the juices of an aristocrat.

There is fragility in hope and the flake of the snow,

Where the fear of the gammon, has no place to go.

Fed by the fortunate, their greed destroys and thrashes

At the heart of the snowflakes their anger lashes.

For the snowflake has the edge in a subtle way

Living and inhabiting within the present day.

The past holds the history and it’s share of the glory

Dare we repeat mistakes, when we know the whole story?

Giants and ogres, like gammons are scared of the truth

Controlling and bullying and hiding the proof.

The media has the ‘kingdom’ tells you what to think

And anyone who dares to query, will suddenly sink.

Is there a moral to this story so that we can safely sleep?

Or do our nightmares haunt us? and it’s legacy we keep. 

Let’s be more tortoise, avoid the arrogance of the hare,

Cos when it’s comes to the race, it has to be fair.

Author, writer, poet, psychotherapist, professional swearer, dyspraxic and opinionated, words that define and illuminate qualities that feature within the personality of Cherry B. Straddling the Shakespearean themes of comedy and tragedy, teasing with laughter, then taunting those undesirables in society. One half of the unique Cherry & Peesh, who have embellished the punk ‘n folk scene with melodical tales and catchy tunes for the past five years. The duo also released an album last year, Dont Make It Easy On Yourself, and will be appearing this years Rebellion Festival.

“My next gig is with peesh at Northern Kin festival in Durham. Then Manchester Punk Festival, 0161 Festival and a few gigs with Pete Bentham And The Dinner Ladies. Myself and Peesh have been back in the studio, to be honest we have 3 ideas for new albums we are working on. All will be revealed soon.”

Cherry B‘s collection of poetry and lyrics, Job Lot Of Rhymes, is now available via Flapjack Press. Job Lot Of Rhymes spans three decades of Cherry B’s performance work. Political, societal and inclusive, it is uncompromising and passionate punk ’n roll poetics firing from the belly of social conscience. Cherry B also appears on her monthly radio show on Louder Than War Radio, Poetry Is The New Rock ’N Roll, that offers an hour of lyric led, spoken versed, genre smashing, musical adventure into the exploration of hidden poetry, that is often camouflaged behind powerful rhythms and riffs.