Goose

HONK

Jun 05, 2025

Take a deep breath and… HONK. Oh dear, it seems I have been possessed by a goose.

Support Tea with HB!

Before we get into more honking, I am asking for your support. After months of consideration and finding no alternatives, I have decided to turn on paid subscriptions on substack. I have been creating free content and providing support for vulnerable communities for 5+ years. The work I do deserves to reach more people. I am told every week that I have helped someone– helped them find a diagnosis, helped them access coping techniques, helped them manage their pain. Helped them talk to their friends and their families about ableism, helped them feel confident using a mobility aid, helped them feel seen, heard, and less alone. I have seen how important this work is, and I do not want to give it up. If you are able to support Tea with HB on Patreon or Substack, you are helping more people than you can possibly know. Thank you to everyone who has already contributed and if you can’t support financially, please share with a friend. To celebrate this launch, you can redeem a permanent discount on your subscription:

Get 50% off forever

Sunrise

So, onto the honking. I read Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins and I have not been able to stop thinking about it since. We are the masses, we have the power, and this must-read dystopian novel feels less hyperbolic every day. It provides guidance on the ways propaganda seeps into the stories we tell ourselves and how we can form resistance individually and as communities. I would LOVE to see you at our creative workshops this weekend, inspired by this wonderful piece of art, whether you are familiar with The Hunger Games Series or not. As always, email hi@poetryorchard.com if you need a free ticket. The following is a poem that is featured in the book:

The law locks up the man or woman
Who steals the goose from off the common
But leaves the greater villain loose
Who steals the common from off the goose.
The law demands that we atone
When we take things we do not own
But leaves the lords and ladies fine
Who take things that are yours and mine.
The poor and wretched don’t escape
If they conspire the law to break;
This must be so but they endure
Those who conspire to make the law.
The law locks up the man or woman
Who steals the goose from off the common
And geese will still a common lack
Till they go and steal it back
— Anonymous, "The Goose and the Common"

This was originally written by an anonymous author during a period of social injustice caused by the privatisation of common land during the enclosures in England. It is still so relevant today and has quickly become my new favourite poem, so much so that I wrote my own poem inspired by it! Of course it was written in a Poetry Orchard Workshop!

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published

Rebel turned to Rubble 
after The Goose and the Common

Microscopic mistakes magnified till my soul breaks

crushed under the weight

and it’s just what you wanted

another woman beyond exhausted

another rebel turned to rubble

just another principled plan

rubbed out by the thumb of a man

in the dead of night when I’ve time to think it all through

I think I can begin to understand. I’d be scared of me too.

but that’s just one more excuse

one more screw loose

one more chance to give the common back its goose.

As long as we are here, we have the chance to reclaim the common— and we must not give it up! We have opposable thumbs where geese don’t. We have voices we must use, we have the power, and so many lovely people are doing wonderful things and this is what we must hold onto.

Pour A Cup of Compassion

Reply to this email with something you think deserves more awareness and together we can make the world a more compassionate place!

This month we’re pouring a cup of compassion for the Trans Communi-tea!!!
As we are all aware, trans people have been scapegoated and used as a political pawn, which can make one dwell in a deep pit of despair… BUT this might be… a good sign?! WHAT?? It’s along the lines of it’s-always-darkest-before-the-dawn things-get-worse-before-they-get-better and can be described as an extinction burst.

So, let’s support our trans friends!! Here are just a few members of this communi-tea who also happen to be talented trans trailblazers:

Poet and Writer, Hannah! https://www.instagram.com/hannahsswords/

Editor and Writer, Steph! https://substack.com/@stephmcollinwrites

Author and Artist, Vincent! https://bsky.app/profile/vinfrankenstein.bsky.social

Why not promote your favourite queer creators this month to your friends?!

Love,

HB x