Stride and Strife is a set of poetry that reflects on the modern-day hardships and strife’s in our current time. These initial six poems were launched and performed by Robert P.

Clarke at the Red Shed on Wednesday 29th May to a crowd who curated the 40th Anniversary of the Miners’ Strike Exhibition at the Red Shed (2024/2025) and also performed to a number of visitors to this May 2024 'Art Walk Wakefield' event. The poems link closely back to the similarities of the strides and strife’s of the Miners’ Strike in 1984 / 1985 and that the same similar social struggles are happening today 40 years on.

The stride, where marches have been replaced by people travelling along on conveyor belts in zero hour contracts and dead-end jobs today, stuck in a vicious circle, travelling around and around, walking on, trying to make ends meet. The strife where the cost-of-living crisis is affecting everyone in some way or another from rising fuel and food costs to making ends meet working in many different jobs.

The miners’ wives supporting with food supplies replaced with the food banks of today and the reduced end of sale items in the shops of supermarkets. This poetry collection is part of a wider poetry collection released separately.

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