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The Lark

The Lark shares fictional short stories and poetry

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POETRY

Willesden—London 1976

The striking saris

Sep 26, 2026

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Willesden in the seventies
Drunks were helped inside
By the cops but not
Dennis Andrew Nilsen
Who lived
Around the corner
In a flat that stunk
Of slaughter;
Melrose Avenue,
I do believe.
Not too far
From Willesden Green tube.

Near Dollis Hill
The striking Saris
Had their say:
Twenty thousand
Yorkshire miners
came down in support
on one long hot summer’s day
in the long, hot summer of 1976.
At the front
Of the Grunwick Dispute
Was Jayaben Desai
Born to give the lie
To racial and gender stereotypes
The striking saris
Just wanted the right
To join the union
and fight not to be sacked,
En masse,
Like
the Uber workers of today.

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John E Marks
John E Marks

Written by John E Marks

Beauty is the only thing that time cannot harm. Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood. T. S. Eliot

The Lark
The Lark

Published in The Lark

The Lark shares fictional short stories and poetry