My international Women's Day Poem 2111 was posted on the Hellogiggles website

My Hopes For Women In The Next 100 Years

From Our Readers

The cabinet will be awash with women representing the masses,
with women from all races, abilities, sexualities and classes.
They will run the country with emotion and passion,
and maybe, if they want, a great sense of fashion.
Communication will aid democracy,
compassion will be law and listening the key.
These traits will be valued and not seen as weak,
attributes to strive for characteristics to seek.

The media will present a greater representation of beautiful,
no longer will we be bombarded with airbrushed, unrealistic, plastic and dull.
Young women would have more to aspire to than being a celebrity’s wife,
spending hours tanning, plucking, shaving and dieting would be seen as a waste of a life.

MTV would play videos of the female equivalents of The Rolling Stones,
haggard rocked out grannies all wrinkled skin and bones.
Talent would not have to be tested or proved,
because barriers to opportunities would all have been removed.
Women could be themselves without having to conform,
and a woman in any job would be seen as the norm.

Women wouldn't feel judged for doing what is their right,
like wearing what they want and walking alone at night.
We wouldn't be bound by concepts of what women should be,
our choices in life would be valued, respected, expected and free,
Being called a “girl” won’t be an insult to men,
but a compliment they would hope to be called again.

Sisters around the world won’t be raped, beaten and vilified,
abused, humiliated, oppressed and petrified.
The current abuse of women would be unheard,
and the concept of violence against women would seem absurd.
Our bodies would be our own, no one could tell us.
No one could own us or rule us or buy us or sell us.
This is my dream for women in the next hundred years.
A life of endless possibilities and a life without fear.

By Alex Keelan 

A cautionary Christmas tale - from 1982

Sneaking around in the dark as quite as a mouse,
the only hours of the year we silently ruled the house.
It was 1982 and me and my sister had had a few..... to many chocolates!
Brimming with excitement as the fairy lights bathed our bounty in all its Christmas glory.
Santa came good for the good girls that never unpicked the wrapping on their main present... sacrilegious.

We squealed with delight when we correctly identified our wrapped up video tapes, blank cassettes, nighties, socks.
Always wrapped individually, never in blocks.
We needed quantity not quality, substance over style.
A bin bag full of knick knacks made us smile, till our cheeks ached.

Once I went to unpick the corner of the wrapping on my main present, my sister silently wrestled me to the ground, careful not to make a sound and break our Christmas universe.
She was too late, I could tell it was the Mr Frosty I had dreamed of for what felt like years.
Oh to be able to make your own your own slush puppy, the height of luxury, the stuff of dreams.

By 10am red eyed and delirious I sobbed as I crushed the ice my Mr Frosty was unable to crush and poured it into the cups.
Karma, never try to unwrap your main present before its time, no good can come of it.

Merry Christmas xxxx

Alex Keelan performing at Pussy Riot benefit Manchester

I performed last night at an amazing Unconvention event at Teacup Manchester, raising money for Pussy Riot.  There was a very thought provoking reading of the testimony's of the three women sentenced, they talked about the deterioration of free thought in Russia.  Their appeal is on Monday, if there is any justice they should be released.  I performed Slutwalks and a new one inspired by the Pussy Riot Punk Prayer.

Poetry for Plebs

I went to a great poetry night last night at Afflecks Place 3MT, its organised by Carly Bennett and Alex Klienburg, each week they choose a different theme, this weeks theme was Poetry for Plebs.  In the spirit of the night I wrote this.


I'm not that cultured, I'm not that well read,
that's why I'm right at home at poetry for plebs.
I'm not adverse to culture or being well read,
it's just 80's telly is how I was fed.

My poems aren't high brow, I wouldn't call them art,
they're not cryptic, mostly rhyme and come straight from the heart.

But mixing in these circles I've come to the conclusion,
all art is subjective and exclusion an illusion.
Hearing other poets, I've also come to find,
that the pleb in me is just a state of mind.

From my trepid trepidation's from a world I felt apart,
I've come to realise all expression is a form of art.

Alex Keelan reads "Matryoshka"

A few years ago a friend at work told me that baby girls are born with all their eggs.  I liked the idea that in 1949 when my nana was pregnant with my mum she also carried the little eggs that were to become my four sisters and I.

Alex Keelan reads "Fledgling"

A first reading of a new poem at the amazing Northern Elements event at Manchester Museum Living World Gallery.

'G.R.A.S.S.' by Alex Keelan

Edinburgh was great and challenging.  I got ill the week before our  fringe show Life or Something Like it (with singer song writer Claire Mooney)  and had visions of me performing with flu and being assisted off stage with a recovery cape a la James Brown.  This did not happen, I was fine.  We were lucky enough to have 3 reviewers there for our first show.  Being a newcomer to all this I made a pretty basic mistake and read one of the reviews at 3am the night before our next performance.  I was staying in a travel lodge and some pissed lads screaming outside woke me up, I checked my emails and there was the review.  It started well but then descended into a pretty tough critique of my performance.  After the initial feelings of nausea I managed to talk myself round from throwing in the towel and realised I am still learning . The next day I tried to relax and perform better than the day before.

Below is a clip of one the poems from that performance. This was the third time I had performed this poem and the first time in front of my four sisters and my mum. It was great having my family there they really spurred me on.  If you have sisters or brothers I hope you relate and enjoy.

p.s If you're nosy (like me) the three reviews were from Broadway baby, Sabotage and Three weeks.