July, A Month to Say
Goodbye
Welcome to the July edition of the News in Review poetry series. Once again, a lot happens in a month, and so there was far more to include than I had space to fit in this piece. (Many may argue that I still put too much in…) But I have tried to include a balance of the good, the bad, the ugly, and the fun. The month, at least for me; was overshadowed by the deaths of Bill Oddie and Bonnie Tyler, So I decided to start of with a sort of collective eulogy to those we lost over the month (And have reference to July 2025 which took Ozzie Ozborne from us among others.) but hopefully, I can lift your spirits to see than not everything in July has been heartbreak.
I will add a disclaimer that this piece was written by me; a British poet, and as such will be recording and commenting from news in a British perspective, which might mean some events you consider important from July 2026 are not included, and some things you have never heard of are more extensively covered.
Requiem for Bonnie and Bill
Death took hold of last July
And death’s alas in great supply
Once more this month
As we say goodbye
To a legend
Or two,
I’m thinking of you
Bill Oddie
That notorious Goodie
Who’s almost single-handedly
Responsible for my love of nature
And of course the departure
Of Bonnie Tyler
Who they said was getting better
But that husky voice will never
Sing those songs again.
We saw the end of Linsey Graham
An unloved republican,
The Murder of Ann Widdicombe
And whatever your oppinion
On her as a politician
She did not deserve that
No one deserves that….
Almost…
Rest in Peace to the Ghosts
Of football’s Kevin Keegan
Neigbours’ Terence Donovan
And of Young South African
Midfielder, Jayden Adams.
Who, days before was playing games
At the world cup.
Oh, and they finally shut up
Zippy from Rainbow
Who suffered a huge blow
When his voice, Ronnie Le Drew
Let this world go.
It wasn’t all tragic though
Since gifts of several million
Caused Farage’s resignation
And forced a re-election
That yes he is expecting
To win…
But there’s a chance
A decent chance
He might be beaten by a bin
If the people of Clacton
Play ball,
Wouldn’t that have us all
In hysterics.
It’s musical chairs in politics
Bye to Starmer
Hi to Burnham –
Another unelected PM,
Plus a Mayoral election,
Where Labour keep position
In Manchester
Which became the new center
Of the country
(At least for one day a week),
As Burnham moves his office North
It’s been a busy month in sport
As almost everyone is caught
By World Cup fever
(Though no one can actually afford to see the
Event in person)
Chants erupted across the nation
To claim
“It’s Coming Home”
In the usual optimistic tone
But really, we all should have known
It wasn’t
And in fact, has taken up residence
In Spain
As they won again.
But still, there’s cause to celebrate
Cuz England hit their highest place
Since 1966
Messi was the first to kick
In goal number twenty
In world cup history,
Quickly followed by Mbappe
Who overtakes him
As top goalscorer.
The world reeld in horror
As Trump convinced Fifa
To step in
And overturn the decision
Of their referees
Because he disagrees
with a US red card
And Infantino shafts himself hard
When he tried to sell football
To line his own pockets.
Open AI and Anthropic’s
Robots go chaotic
Breaking test perameters
To hack their competitors
without instruction.
Nolan’s epic production
The Odyssey
Is released to much controversy
Surrounding historical accuracy
In… Yeah… a mythical fantasy…
With harsh critique from Emily
Wilson,
Because it was missing
The sex scenes she was expecting.
Personally, I’d say that was good directing
Work begins on re-constructing
The World trade center
Zambia finally declares an end to
A year long cholera outbreak
And Trump threatens to take
The papers to court again
For reporting a lack in security
On air force one
Claiming that there’s nothing wrong
Even though he had to leave NATO
In a catering van
Because he was too scared
to fly over Iran.
Ther IOC lifts its ban
On Russian atheletes
Meaning they can compete
In the 28 olympics
Despite continued conflict
In Ukraine
Where Putin has made a claim
Zelenski’s refuting
Regarding the capture
Of Kostyantynivka
Not that he’s the only agressor
Iran’s peace with America
Is over
To no one’s surprise
And concerns arise
Over a lack of human rights
In Sudan.
The former Supreme leader of Iran
Is put to rest
As bombs, claimed by the IS
Hit a hotel in Damascus
And despite cooperation from Hamas
Israel are still on the attack.
The world is growing charred and black
As, not just bombs but fires track
Disaster in a path
Across Europe
And it’s hard to endure it
When drought has drained the rivers
used to fight it.
And yet A.I. is still supplied with
Water by the bucket…
By the resovior
All to fuel a new feature.
New software from Meta
Lets users alter
any picture
That they desire….
They must have missed the bin fire
That was Grok…
Farage has thrown another strop
Over pictures of a chopping block
Printed on a comic top
And posted onto X,
He wants Zack Polanski’s neck
For sharing it.
There’s been a split
In the catholic church
As newly consecrated bishops
Were against the pope’s wishes
Gibralta ditches boarder fences
And despair as Trump announces
New tariffs on drugs,
Pharmaceutical drugs…
Whilst the cycloporiasis bug
Is becoming a menace,
Spread by Taco Bell’s lettuce.
July, of course brings the tennis
With Arthur Fery feeling bliss
After his heroics
Make him the best of British
despite his minor seed
Sinner claims victory
In the men’s singles, for Italy
And the women’s goes to Noskova
The seventh seed from Czechia
Now we’ll have to wait another year
For strawberries and cream
Assuming they still grow
In this obscene
Heat.
Burnham, now in Downing street
Proves himself an utter sheet,
Declaring open season
On the North sea
Brazil stops animal cruelty,
Bans Foie Gras controversially
But still threatens the safety
Of the Amazon
The North Pole hosts a marathon
And Gus goes up for auction
At fifty million
(Gus is the skeletan
Of a Tyrannosaurus)
Hosepipe bans come out to haunt us
Bayeux’s back on Britains shores as
The world cup kicks off for E-Sports
Businesses let men wear shorts
In Japan
And I understand
The women aren’t happy
Claiming it’s crappy
They have to stare
At unshaved leg hair…
(Just don’t look down there…?)
Scientists have now declared
Although they once were unaware
There’s sugar at the center
Of the milky way
And I’d be criminal
If I didn’t say
Something about Jimothy
Whoes antics brought some jolity
To balance out the tragedy
R.I.P to Bonnie
And Bill Oddie
Did I do July Justice?
Was there anything that you missed? Was there anything I missed and you think should have really been in there? Feel free to ask, share your thoughts, or reminisce with your comments.
Thank you for reading July 2026 – The News in Review. As with all poetry on my website, this piece is free to enjoy, however if you would like to thank me. Or want help make sure I can continue to write these news reviews. Please head over to my Ko-Fi. There you will be able to support me if you wish, either as a one off, or monthly. As well as purchase more of my poetry which is unavailable on this website.
And Of course, check back next month to read August’s Review. See if you can guess what it might contain.