New Poems on the Underground June 2026

The Summer Poems on the Underground go live on London Underground and Overground trains for 4 weeks from June 1st with poems by William Shakespeare, Maura Dooley,  Krystyna Lenkowska, Tadeusz Dabrowski, Glyn Maxwell and Rita Ann Higgins.

The summer poems include the Clown’s song from Shakespeare’s  Merchant of Venice: ‘Tell me where is fancy bred / Or in the heart or in the head?’ alongside contemporary works of ‘fancy’ by Glyn Maxwell,  Maura Dooley, Rita Ann Higgins and two Polish poets, Krystyna Lenkowska and Tadeusz Dabrowski.  Common themes include love and memory, family relationships and political satire of enduring relevance.

The Poems are:

‘Song’ by William Shakespeare from The Merchant of Venice, III.2.63

Song Tell me where is fancy bred, Or in the heart or in the head? How begot, how nourishèd? Reply, reply. It is engendered in the eyes, With gazing fed; and fancy dies In the cradle where it lies Let us all ring fancy’s knell: I’ll begin it: Ding, dong, bell. Ding, dong, bell. The Merchant of Venice, III.2.63 William Shakespeare

‘A Bunch of Consolation’ by Maura Dooley from Five Fifty-Five (Bloodaxe Books 2023) which takes its title from a line in Adrian Mitchell’s poem ”Beattie is Three’.

A Bunch of Consolation You think they’ll always be there, (the ones who always have been). They showed you the way, not their way but how to find your own (and what to say), sweeping the path of leaves or snow but then they leave, they go, before you were ready (how could you ever be ready?) to wonder, wondering, what have you learned exactly? To love, to speak up, to hold steady. Hold steady. Maura Dooley from Five Fifty-Five (Bloodaxe 2023)

‘When I Was a Fish’ by Krystyna Lenkowska translated by the author and Cecilia Woloch Reprinted by permission of the author from Decompression  © Krystyna Lenkowska (Fraza 2026)

When I Was a Fish When I was a fish or a bird I didn’t need reputation nor the safe tomorrow nor a solid bed with a soft pillow for the body I wasn’t looking for reasons and answers I wasn’t carving holes in the table with my elbows nor in the mattress I was keeping silent or singing when I was a fish or a bird. Krystyna Lenkowska translated by the author and Cecilia Woloch © Krystyna Lenkowska from Decompression Decompresja (Fraza 2026)

‘Letter’ by Tadeusz Dabrowski translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones from The Scent of Man (Arrowsmith Press 2025)

Letter Yesterday I sent you a letter. And today on the phone you tell me you are pregnant. I pack up and return, you greet me at the airport, you’re even lovelier than in my letter that’s on its way to you. We build a house, our child grows, our parents shrink, then a few years of sweat and tears, in which we prudently pickle cabbage and gherkins for the ever colder days. In the colouring book of our life there are fewer and fewer blank spaces, the crayons grow shorter, we try to be precise, but even so we go over the lines. We busy ourselves with everyday matters, and our paths are ever deeper, they start to look like tunnels. Meanwhile my letter’s on its way to you. You’ll open it when it suits you best. Tadeusz Dabrowski, Translated from Polish by Antonia Lloyd-Jones from The Scent of Man (Arrowsmith Press 2025)

‘A Rousing Speech’ by Glyn Maxwell from Hide Now (Picador 2008)

‘A Rousing Speech’ By stock-still flags on the hottest day Recorded, He delivered a rousing speech to about six Hundred. At the end of his speech the caps would be hurled Skyward. The sky was the blue of the blue sky on a Postcard. There it all is in a black-and-white shot in the Paper. Depicting the memorable scene at his alma Mater. The sky is the grey it would turn and, in capitals Under: PRESIDENT RALLIES THE TROOPS FOR THE WAR ON THUNDER. Glyn Maxwell from Hide Now (Picador 2008)

‘No One Mentioned the Roofer’ by Rita Ann Higgins from Jiving with Wasps (Bloodaxe Books 2026)

No One Mentioned the Roofer (for Pat Mackey) We met the Minister, we gave him buns, we admired his suit. The band played, we all clapped. No one mentioned the roofer; whose overtime was cut whose under time was cut whose fringe was cut whose shoelaces were cut whose job was lost. We searched for his job but it had disappeared. One of us should have said: Hey Minister, we like your suit have a bun, where are our jobs? But there was no point, he was here on a bun eating session not a job finding session. His hands were tied. His tongue a marshmallow. Rita Ann Higgins