Robin Rich

three things broken
count the parts they are
more than the whole
one jigsaw

billions of parts to interlock

count the parts

One:
body in the doorway how they have folded up their bits
rough sleepers sent off in ships
touch paper,

i am a blue fuse in your
post code

Two:
citizen types
bodies in movement
in transport or in commute.
one a health or school run.
another is being transported
to a border
under
a State order

he is my busted cousin

Three:
the bust up family
Parent Child and Spirit
the cross in three parts used as sticks to beat the difference
a resurrection incomplete

we are assembled without congregation

to be whole

out of anything wholesome
only piles of disconnects
forced to align repellent poles
twisted magnets
when our natures attract

Four times we have been wronged

Robin Rich is a bin man who discovered writing poetry from pushing beyond limericks composed about people or as commentary on social and environmental issues. Child of the space race era, of Welsh blood and Black Country grit. His work has been curated by ATLApublishing in his first collection Walk to be Herd. His haiku are regularly published in the Asahi Shimbun.

This poem appears in Uprooted: Poems of Resistance, Witness, and Survival (The Chaos Section Poetry Project, Fall 2026). We’re sharing each poem from the collection individually over the coming weeks. You can read the full book or download the free PDF here.